The Collector
by Aliinai Rajayli
Summary: Goku left to train Uub for eighteen years, leaving his daughter, Pan, to feel abandoned. Due to recent heartbreaks, Pan realizes she has a lot to work on in life to be happy. Can someone mend her heart? And what about this strange man that has come from outer space claiming that her family is a "collectable." A journey into space is in order to recover what was stolen from Earth.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **This story is fully written as fanfiction, I do not own.

**Author's Notes**: This story is slightly AU with a bit of a cross over. First off, **Pan is Goku and ChiChi's daughter**.  
GT hasn't happened and when Goku left with Uub, it was for a really long time.  
The back story on ChiChi has changed A LOT! She and her family will exhibit powers like those seen in Avatar: The Last Airbender. It won't be called "bending" but it will have the same properties. Pan will have left as a child to train in this art with the Ox King. Gohan and Goten didn't master it fully as they focused more on their Saiyan abilities. Since "Mao" is one of the alternative writings for the Ox King, I have decided to use this name as the last name for ChiChi and their ancestors that control these "bending" abilities. The addition of these powers I feel is necessary for later chapters. I will update as much as possible but in a few weeks my classes will be starting back up again and I need to do a final push before I graduate and then transfer to a different college.

These first few chapters will move a bit slow as I hope to work on more of the back story and build up from there. Please enjoy!

**The Collector**

Chapter One

Pan sat in the harness as they slowly lowered her down deeper into the hole. From above her she could hear commands of the local hires as they talked the elephant into backing up. It would have been much easier for her to fly down into the tomb but she had to keep up appearances. The light from her jacket beamed against the earthen tunnel, white roots from trees reflected the light back at her. Looking below her she guessed she had another twenty feet to go before her feet would hit the floor.

The tomb was larger for an underground one. Apparently a local farmer had gone searching for his dog late one night and stumbled into. Luckily, the forty foot drop did not kill the man, just broke his leg at the knee and ankle. The ancient bodies had already been removed earlier to be taken to a lab for testing. Pan's job was to enter the tomb and collect a few fragments of pottery to carbon date and run further analysis on.

Pan carefully gathered the assigned materials into her Ziploc bags and labeled each one accordingly while making note of the time. Pulling off her dust mask she charted each of the items in her notebook as she placed them inside of the Styrofoam container before sealing them inside of a capsule.

As she tucked the capsule back into her vest she could hear muffled voices coming from the ground above. Although this wasn't unusual, it perked her interest that the normal calm and collected demeanor of her coworkers seemed to have a tone of agitation.

Standing in the light of the shaft she looked up. Normally a person would be stationed at the top to listen for her in case of emergency, but there was no one.

"Hello!" Pan called up, her voice echoing in the tomb.

No answer.

Pan craned her head to the side in an attempt for her Saiyan ears to funnel up the shaft; muffled voices of anger reached her ears. She could hear the slight thumping the elephant was making as he agitatedly pawed at the ground. Toning in closer she could vaguely make out what the men was saying in their local language but she knew it was getting heated.

Suddenly a gun shot rang out. Not one to back down for a fight, Pan shot up the tunnel, stunning a few men in the process.

Eleven tall men, wearing jungle camo, black hats, and sunglasses stood before, each holding a large artillery gun. Apparently they had fired a warning shot into the air. One man, whom Pan assumed to be the boss, stepped forward and aimed his gun at her. One of the locals was pointing at the elephant repeating "He wants to take." The man yelled at her in a foreign language, one that she knew little of. She did pick up the words "shoot" and "you" and by his tone, he would try to harm her.

_Try_ being the key word.

Quicker than a flash of lightening, Pan stepped forward grabbing the barrel of the gun bending it backwards. The man sputtered, his cigarette falling out of his mouth. Pan pulled the gun forward, causing the man to rush into her awaiting fist. Quickly, she sidestepped him as another man opened fire on her…

* * *

"That was a good meal!" Goku exclaimed as he loosened his belt at the waist. "Thank you so much ma'am for the delicious meal." Uub's mother only nodded, she would of responded but the amount the man could eat had surprised her.

"Mother," Uub began, "Why is the village empty?"

Smoothing her dress out, his mother explained to her son that had been gone for eighteen years that Pin had fallen down into a shaft and had discovered a tomb. A group of archeologists and anthropologists had come to the village to study what Pin had found. "However, I'm a bit worried."

Uub raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, lately we have been having trouble with poachers. They can't find wild herds of elephants in the jungle anymore and they've begun to take our elephants that we have for working the fields." As Uub's mother continued to tell her son about a few of the recent poaching problems they had, a local man came running by her home as he raced towards the village market.

"What's going?" Goku asked Uub, unsure of what the man was saying.

"Looks like they were attacked at the tomb site by some poachers," Uub translated the man's hurried speech. Tuning into his Saiyan hearing, Goku could hear the distant echo of a gun. Turning to Uub he nodded towards the sky and they took off towards the reports.

They landed in a small clearing to find several men lying on the ground. A few of the locals, who were clearly the victims, were huddled together around an elephant they were trying to calm down. But one thing caught their eye: a woman with long curly raven hair, accented with purple and pink highlights, was straddling a man on the ground as she continued to deliver punches and curses. Uub stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Miss, I think he's done." The woman wheeled around quickly, her fist coming towards him but Uub easily caught it. Uub was quite surprised that the impact of the punch was so hard and from the blow he could tell that she was holding back a lot of her strength.

Pan's eyes widened in recognition of the man. She remembered the brown completion and the black mohawk of a child from long ago as he flew off on her father's shoulders. Peering over the man's shoulder - no, Uub was his name from what she could remember. But there, standing by the jungle line was the man she hadn't seen in eighteen years – her father.

Goku stepped forward, assessing the situation. "Geeze lady, you did a lot of damage." He chuckled, placing his hand behind his head in a signature Son gesture. "Are you alright though?" Goku stopped walking forward once he realized the woman in front of him looked oddly familiar. "Hey, you look like I've seen you before."

"Well you should know!" Pan snapped, anger welled up inside of her. He had promised to come back; he had said he would visit his family. He had told her four year old self that it was for the good of the Earth to train strong warriors to protect their home planet. But why hadn't he come back? Why didn't he train her? Was she not strong enough?

Goku smiled as he rubbed his head, "Well you kind of remind me of my wife – back when she was younger." He chucked, remembering the spunkiness ChiChi use to exhibit back when they were younger.

Pan's fists closed in anger, she could feel her ki rising. "You should know," she hissed, "I'm your daughter." Pan grabbed her backpack and took to the air, blasting past the tree line and setting her course for Capsule Corp. She bit back tears in her eyes, she wouldn't cry. She couldn't, not for him.

* * *

Goku stared at the sky.

"That was your daughter?" Uub asked, gesturing towards the form of the retreating woman.

Goku gulped. "Yeah, that was Pan. I have a feeling I am in a lot of trouble." Goku placed two fingers in the center of his forehead. "Well, Uub, I need to return home. I will see you around."

In an instant Goku had disappeared from Uub's sight and had reappeared in his living room.

"Oh shit!" Looking around Goku noticed that he had startled his youngest son, Goten, who was sitting on the couch in the living room with a game controller in his hand. "Dad! You're back!"

Goku smiled, "Yeah, where's your mom?" As if on cue, ChiChi appeared and smacked her husband on the back of the head with a frying pan.

"And just where have you been!" She screeched, prepared to hit Goku again, but the sound of a baby crying from upstairs alerted their attention. "Great, Goku! Now you have woken the baby!"

"But ChiChi, I didn't wake the…" Goku stopped mid-sentence due to the glare he received from his angry wife as she ran up the stairs. Goku turned to his son, "When did we get a baby?"

Goten laughed, "Well, you've missed a lot dad – you have four grandkids."

"Four?!"

Goten nodded as he pulled out his phone to send a "Dad's back" text to his siblings and wife, "Yeah. Gohan and Videl have three kids. Shiro is sixteen, he's at cram school right now; Kari is six, and Kaname just turned seven months old. I have one kid, his name's Kaien, or just "Kai." Bulla and I married about four years ago." Goten felt his phone vibrate and looked down to see that Pan had sent him a reply.

'_I already know_.' Goten looked at the screen confused before putting it away to look at his dad who hadn't changed in appearance in the last eighteen years.

"You married Vegeta's daughter?" Goku sweat-dropped.

"Yeah, and it was terrifying to ask to marry his daughter. We're happy though and that's all that matters. He's use to the idea now."

ChiChi reappeared downstairs with a small baby in her hands. "Look, dear, your grandson." She held out the tiny child to her husband.

Goku cradled the babe in his large arms. "Hello, little guy. I guess I'm your grandpa!" He bounced Kaname in his arms, eliciting small giggles from him. Around the corner of doorframe, Goku glanced two sets of eyes staring at him. "Are these my other grandkids?"

ChiChi nodded, "Come here sweethearts and meet your grandpa." A small girl with black hair and large ebony eyes came forward and stuck out her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you sir, I'm Kari!" Her voice came out in a tiny squeak at the large man in front of her.

Goku passed Kaname back to ChiChi, "A handshake? I thought grandpas were supposed to get hugs!" He scooped the girl up in his arms as she giggled from being thrown up into the air and caught.

"Dad," Goten pushed his son forward, "This is Kaien." Kaien had a defiant streak to him that could easily be told from his dark blue eyes that reflected back at Goku. The boy was almost a mirror image of his dad at that age but his hair was a dark midnight blue, the perfect blend between his parent's hair color.

Goku crouched down to the boy's level and gave him a playful poke in the shoulder. "You look like a fighter. Do you train?"

Kaien puffed his chest up. "I'm the strongest three year-old there is! And one day I'm going to be the strongest Saiyan in the universe!"

Goku laughed, "He sounds like Vegeta."

"Yeah he hangs around him a lot," Goten responded.

"Normally, Goku," ChiChi began, "When the kids are all work I take the grandbabies or Bulma does. Gohan and Videl should be home from work soon. Pan comes and goes."

"I saw Pan out in the jungle when I took Uub back to his home tribe."

ChiChi raised an eyebrow, "You saw her and are just now telling me? She told me she had to do some archeological work but she is a lot like you with her constant disappearing."

"Well Mom, do you blame her after what happened? She's a bit lost," Goten interjected.

Goku was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Pan was going to get married over a year ago but the guy, Darren, dumped her at the altar. He said he was too scared of us and didn't want his children to be like Pan. It broke her heart. Since then she's just been depressed, she really liked the guy."

Goku felt a pain in his heart. His little girl had been heartbroken. Deep down he felt the beginnings of guilt creep up.

Seeing his dad's change in mood, Goten began, "Don't worry, Dad. Trunks took care of the situation. He diffused it. I think all in all, Pan is doing pretty well."

ChiChi nodded, "She is fine, Goku. But I will tell you raising a girl is a lot harder than raising a boy! I'm very proud of her – graduating from high school at fifteen, starting college soon after. She has six years of college under her belt! She has several associates' degrees, a masters in archeology, minor in cultural anthropology, and a bachelors in technology. She's a genius!"

"You'll be proud, Dad," Goten added. "She even went off with Grandpa Ox to learn the ancient martial arts of mom's side of the family. She tried to teach Gohan and I, but I think we're to stuck in our Saiyan ways to grasp that there are other ways of fighting without our ki."

"Wow, I guess a lot has happened since I was gone, but I'm here to stay now." Goku wasn't going to lie to himself: he was a bit nervous after being gone all these years.

"I think tonight calls for a special dinner then," ChiChi handed Kaname over to Goten, "Take care of him for me please, dear, while I prepare a big dinner. Oh, and text your brother and sister for me, tell them we're having dinner here tonight. You might as well call Bulma, Goku and let her know you are back. I know she has missed you as much as we have."

* * *

Pan walked into the Briefs home, not bothering to knock as it was practically her second home anyways, and made her way into the kitchen where Vegeta and Bulma were enjoying their afternoon coffee.

"Hello Pan!" Bulma beamed at the young woman as she entered, "I am so proud of you! I saw your paper was published in the _Science Daily_."

Pan nodded and returned the smile, "I guess all that thesis work paid off."

"So any new job offers?" Bulma inquired.

"Yeah, I've had several but I'm enjoying the freelance work right now," Pan put her backpack up on the table and opened it. "I found something interesting though. I tracked a meteorite that fell to Earth a few weeks back, but I don't think it was necessarily a meteorite. It looked almost like space junk." She pulled out a tablet that had a metallic quality to it with symbols carved on it. "Here Vegeta, I was able to translate some of it but on the corner I couldn't quite place the meaning since I haven't seen the symbol."

Vegeta took the tablet and examined it, "its Quothrian."

Pan agreed, "So far I was able to understand that it was a new sort of law, "_Ordinance for the use of_," but that's it. I don't understand the last part."

"That's their symbol for Kellians," Vegeta stated, "I have a feeling it's dealing with the use of Kellians as slaves."

"But why is this falling to Earth?" Pan asked as she took the tablet back and handed it to Bulma.

Vegeta shrugged, "My guess is the planet was raided and what was collected was deemed junk and then tossed onto a planetary garbage ship."

"I didn't think there were too many raiders after Freezia," Bulma added, "Pan, do you mind if I run this through my lab to see what the material composition of it is?"

"No, not at all Bulma. I need to head back home though; Dad's returned. I'm guessing Mom will want us all together for dinner."

"Goku's back?!" Bulma squealed in delight from the thought of her friend returning, "Oh I will have to prepare a big party. Panny, tell your mother to keep this weekend open, we'll have a big celebration and I will get the whole gang together."

Pan nodded, "I'll tell Mom. See you guys around!" She waved good bye to them and left. Vegeta and Bulma watched her departure through the window as she took to the air and disappeared off into the distance.

"Eighteen years is a long time to be gone, huh Vegeta?"

Vegeta nodded, "There were times I didn't feel his presence on Earth. He probably instant transmissioned off the planet to train that boy with a few of his friends. I just hope the brat takes his return well."

Bulma smiled at her husband; Pan had a special place in Vegeta's heart and she knew he considered her like a daughter. After Pan had gone to train with the Ox King she had shown up on their doorstep at the age of twelve and demanded to learn everything about her Saiyan heritage from Vegeta. She became his student for the next two years: learning their history and language. Vegeta had even begun to teach her several alien languages he had known. Often times he wound mention to his wife that if his home planet still existed, Pan would have made a great ambassador or sat as a member in the Counsel. Bulma was as proud of the girl like she was her own daughter. Bulma and Vegeta's own children had aspired and done many great things in the world: her son had taken over the position of CEO and president of her family's business and Bulla had opened a fashion and entrainment industry through Capsule Corp. Capsule Corp had grown and had a hand in almost any kind of business and special interest group imaginable. At the rate the company was growing her great-great-great grandchildren would never have to worry about any financial problems.

"Glad to say that man left her though," Vegeta mumbled as he headed out the door to go train, "He was weak and their children would have been weak. Trunks needs to get his head out of the clouds and make his move. She's a better match for him." Bulma smirked into her coffee cup; for once her and her husband could agree on who their son should be with.

* * *

Pan landed in front of the door to her mother's home. "Here goes nothing," she thought to herself as she opened the door. Her older brother, Gohan, and his wife, Videl, had returned from work and made themselves at home. Pan noticed the collection of shoes in the entryway; Bulla and her Grandpa Ox were apparently here too. Shiro, her nephew, had taken up residence on the couch, books across his lap as he worked on his homework. Pan could hear Kaien and Kari, upstairs in their playroom, obviously destroying something. Laughter erupted from the dining room.

Pan plopped down on the couch next to Shiro, "Hey kid, what are you working on?"

"Calculus," Shiro handed her a paper of worked problems. "Can you check them for me?"

Pan skimmed them. Despite having a dense, simple-minded father, his offspring and children's offspring scored heavily in the genius department; even Goten had a master's in education. "Looks good, kid." She playful ruffled his hair and walked into the dining room where her family was. Goku stood up as she entered and scooped her into a hug.

"I should have done this when I saw you in the jungle today, Panny." Pan inhaled her father's scent. It was still the same as she remembered. She loved her father, she really did. She was just confused as to why he had to leave. Deep down though, she was excited he was back; it would give them a chance to catch up on everything that they had missed.

ChiChi entered with a large platter of food and Videl came in behind her with the last side dish for the night's meal. "Dinner's done, kids!" She yelled, "Go wash your hands!" A distant "Okay!" was heard from upstairs.

As they all seated at the table, the usual chatter began. Goten was enthusiastically telling his father about his job teaching kindergarten children at Satan City's Elementary. Videl, who worked as a police chief for Satan City, mentioned a few cases that she was working on and told Goku the latest happenings on her father, Hercule.

"Great Gramps," Kaien called out to the large Ox King who was currently shoveling large portions of food into his mouth, "If I didn't know better I would think you were a Saiyan like me! You eat as much as I do."

The Ox King gave a boisterous laugh that could literally move mountains if he had wanted to. "Well, there's nothing like your grandma's cooking. Panny tells me you've been training and continuing on the ancient arts of the Mao line."

Kaien nodded and Kari chirped in, "I am really good at seeing the water! Aunt Panny says that when I'm older she will show me how to manipulate it to have a healing quality."

"That's good," the Ox King said, "I was only good at controlling Earth. If I would have studied more, I might have been able to control that fire that took over my home. It makes me proud to see the ancient Mao fighting techniques to be passed on."

"So, Dad," Gohan interjected, "What have you been doing while you were gone?"

"Well, I went off planet for a few years to train; met some interesting people. I feel stronger. There are some new things I need to show you boys, I know you'll pick them up easily."

"I have a three day weekend this week," Gohan stated, "Goten, I know your school is taking a three day, but are you have a professional learning day then?"

Goten finished slurping up his noodles, "Yeah, but it's only half a day."

"Oh, I was going to get my hair done on Friday, Goten," Bulla added, "I can probably drop Kaien off with my parents for the weekend. Us girls need to have a spa day."

Videl agreed, "I know I definitely need to have my hair redone. I don't know how you and Pan keep your curls in your hair so well, but mine doesn't seem to hold."

"What products are you using?" Bulla asked. "We can go to my stylist; he's fabulous. When I had my hair done in America while visiting Pan it kept falling out. I gave up and just straightened it daily but once I came back to Japan I went straight to him and I haven't had any problems since then."

"Really? Hair talk, girls?" Goten teased, which resulted in an elbow to the rib cage from his wife.

"Hush you. If you boys get to be all macho and tear up the terrain, us girls can go out and have a day of pampering. Don't you agree with me, Mom?"

"I could use a day of relaxing myself," ChiChi stated, "Make sure to invite your mother too, Bulla. We can make a day of it. I think Vegeta will want to head out with the boys though. I could call Marron…"

"Grandma, I can watch everyone!" Shiro, who managed to put his book down for a few moments, declared.

ChiChi blinked, "Are you sure you can handle it, honey?"

Shiro nodded, "Yeah, I can. And Roland wants to come over; he can help. But Mom, if I can, Roland wants me to stay Saturday night with him. If I watch everyone can I go to his place?"

Videl looked at her husband. Gohan shook his head yes and spoke, "I see no problem with it. Are you sure you don't want to come out with us though?"

"Nope, we've got a big project to work on."

"Alright," Videl added, "But absolutely no powers, children. Roland doesn't know our families secrets so we have to appear like a_ normal_ family." She stressed the normal and added air quotations which elicited giggles from the group. "_Normal_" was a long standing family joke.

"Well, it sounds like a plan then," ChiChi stated, "The girls will all go out for a day of pampering and the boys can go off gallivanting in the woods. Bulma wants to have a party on Friday and we can all meet there at seven for dinner. Bulla, I'll call your mom later and work out the finer details with her."

Dinner continued on like normal, well, for what seemed like very close to normal. Everything fit together perfectly and it felt as if Goku hadn't been gone all those years. Things were beginning to fall into a natural order and Pan was starting to feel "right." She finally felt as if she could be happy and that she could work out her past insecurities and move on with her life. Despite her past heartbreaks, she knew it was time to move on. She was strong enough to pick up the broken pieces, sweep them away, and start over anew…


	2. Chapter 2

The Collector

Chapter Two

Trunks exhaled a deep breath as he shuffled through the remaining paper work on his desk. He had no desire to finish going over these papers. "_Why didn't I hire an intern to do this work_," he thought to himself as he glanced down at his watch. In a few hours he would need to head over to the welcome home party for Goku his mother was hosting. At the thought of seeing Pan tonight his heart began to flutter…

He and Pan had remained good friends throughout the years and he had always made sure to stay in contact with her when she was off training or taking classes overseas. However, three years ago after Bulla and Goten's wedding, she had dropped off the Earth for a while it seemed. Her calls became less and less and she didn't respond to his texts as soon as she use to do. It was at this time when Trunks realized he was developing feelings for Pan. At first he had tried to deny them due to the ten year age difference but after realizing that age shouldn't be a deciding factor in love he was going to admit to Pan his feelings.

That was until she showed up eighteen months ago with a ring on her finger and asking him if he would be the one to walk her down the aisle since Vegeta adamantly refused and Goku still hadn't returned. It was then that his heart sank down into the lower regions of his stomach. He had managed a small nod, knowing that if he spoke his voice would crack. Pan was beyond ecstatic. Over the next few weeks while the Briefs and Sons made wedding preparations, Trunks and Goten had decided to get to know Darren a little bit better. The man had been told the extent of the Saiyans' abilities from Pan, but he had not seen what power they were truly capable of. As Goten and Trunks showed the man a glimpse of what it was like to be in a family full of Saiyans, Darren became increasingly nervous. It didn't take long till Darren was jumping at his own shadow. At first, Darren seemed to act agitated, blaming wedding stress, but eventually Trunks knew that it was more than pre-wedding jitters.

On the day of the wedding Trunks and Goten had dressed with Darren in the groom's tent. The man was completely frazzled and kept dropping everything. The first time the man had attempted to tie his tie he had wound it around his neck to the point of strangulation and had gotten his finger caught in the process. Goten helped the poor guy out and offered to go get him a shot of whiskey to calm his nerves. Not wanting to be alone in a tent with the guy that was going to marry his long time crush, Trunks opted to go check on Pan.

Trunks had crossed the lawn where they were hosting the wedding and pulled back the curtain to the bride's tent. Bulla was helping Pan with the last minute adjustments to her hair as she fitted. Pan turned around to see who had entered and smiled when she had realized it was him. She took his breath away. Pan was simply stunning in her white strapless gown. Bulla had a hand in the creation of it and had added a few personal touches to draw the look of the gown together.

"You look gorgeous!" Trunks commented as Pan swept him up in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here, Trunks," she said as she inhaled his scent and tried to calm her own pre-wedding jitters. Pan grabbed one of the flower arrangements and pinned it to the flap on Trunks's jacket. "There, that completes it."

Gohan stuck his head in, "There you are, Trunks. I need your help."

Pan raised an eyebrow, "Everything okay?"

Her oldest brother nodded, "Yeah, just need to see Trunks."

Trunks, sensing the urgency, excused himself from his sister's and Pan's presence and stepped out of the tent, "What's going on?" He asked in a low voice but Gohan quickly pushed him away from the tent.

Once they were a safe distance away from their Saiyan sisters' hearing, Gohan turned to Trunks and whispered, "Have you seen Darren?"

Trunks shook his head, "I saw him about fifteen minutes ago in his tent. I left him alone while Goten went to get him a drink. What's going on?"

Gohan let out a breath of air, "We can't find him."

Goten came running up, a scrap of paper in his hand. "One of the caterers said Darren gave her this to give to Pan." Goten extended the paper which was obviously torn from the guest book and scrawled upon it read one simple word: "_Sorry…_"

Trunks felt his blood boil as Goten continued, "His car isn't here either."

"Why's everyone standing out here?" All three of the men looked up to see Pan and Bulla approaching. They noticed a crowd was starting to gather and they suspected that the caterers were spreading the word on the groom's sudden departure.

"Pan," Gohan stepped forward reaching out for his sister, "We can't find Darren."

Pan gave a quizzical look, "What do you mean…how can you not find him?"

Trunks noticed from the corner of his eye one as the catering manager ran up to Goten and whispered in his ear that one of his employees had seen the groom take off in his car. Goten nodded in understanding and looked at Trunks.

The next few moments went by in a blur: ChiChi had ran up to the crowd and scooped her daughter into a hug. Bulma was there too, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugged the two women. But Pan's face was the most heartbreaking to him. Never, never, in his life had even ever known Son Pan to cry.

Yet there she was: her eyes glassed over and soft sobs choking out between words as her mother hugged her and rubbed her back. Exchanging a look with Goten, Trunks took off into the woods away from the crowd so he could take to the air. He vaguely registered that Goten was behind him as he flew in the direction of Pan's house.

Landing in the driveway he noticed that Darren's car was parked up on the curb, taking out several bushes. The front door was open. As Trunks entered he noticed the amount of various objects thrown about the house and he could hear the man upstairs muttering curses.

Pushing open the bedroom door, Trunks found Darren shoving his clothes into a bag and muttering himself. Trunks cleared his throat and startled the man. Darren, realizing who it was, tried to run as fast as he could past Trunks, stumbling in the process.

The runaway groom should have known better than to try to run, let alone try to run by Trunks. Trunks grabbed the man by the throat and pushed him against the frame of the door, raising him a few feet off the ground.

"What is the big idea?" He growled between clenched teeth.

"I….I can't do it," Darren managed to choke out. His words only caused Trunks to push him harder into the doorframe, causing the wood to splinter and sink in.

"And why the hell not?"

"I…just…can't. _You_ people are terrifying. I can't live like that…I don't want my children to be _freaks_," Darren all but spat.

Trunks drew his fist back in preparation to smash the man's face in but was stopped by Goten holding his hand back.

"Don't do it, Trunks, he's not worth it," He turned to Darren, "We will let you go on the conditions that you never tell our family secrets and you stay away from Pan. After what you have done, you don't deserve to have any contact with her. If I so much as get a whiff that you have even mentioned that we are an alien race, well, you'll be missing a few vital parts and living rather uncomfortably."

Darren nodded and Trunks threw him to the ground. His heart rate was high and he knew his blood pressure had skyrocketed. Goten, feeling the glare from his friend threw his hands in the air. "Pan would not be happy if we killed him. I'll tell her that I bent her doorframe, she might be upset if she found out you nearly killed him…"

Trunks let out a sigh as he recalled the past memory. "_I should have just killed the bastard_," he thought as he picked up his jacket and headed out his office. The paperwork could wait till Monday morning. For once in his lifetime he was excited for one of his mother's dinners.

* * *

As Trunks pulled into the driveway of his mother's home he had to avoid several catering trucks delivering food. He smirked knowing that they were probably confused as to why Capsule Corp would request a large supply of food but didn't hire any of the caterers to stay and serve. Bulma had apparently hired someone to come in while they were out and decorate the poolside with a tropical theme. Trunks had thought that it was supposed to be a _simple_ family dinner, but knowing his mother, "simple" wasn't in her vocabulary.

Trunks walked around and noticed that Kaien and Kari were already in the pool, splashing about. Kai, seeing his uncle, swam close to the edge and splashed at him. "Get in with us, Uncle Trunks!"

"Give me a minute, Kai, I need to change first," Trunks promised him to get in and went inside the house. His mother greeted him, her freshly done hair bouncing around her face.

"How was the office today, dear?" She asked as she hugged him.

"Some work still needs to be done but I'll finish it on Monday. Nothing too major. Do you still have a pair of swimming shorts here?"

Bulma shrugged, "I don't know. Check your old room. If not I'm sure your dad has some that he's never worn you can wear." Trunks nodded and proceeded to his old room. He rummaged around a few of the drawers and found a pair. Wanting to startle his nephew and Kari, who he considered practically a niece, he flew out his bedroom window and levitated over the pool, before shouting "cannon ball!" and dropping in.

As he surfaced, Kai clung to him, giggles erupting from his body. "Again! Again!" He cried.

Trunks shook his head. "Nope! We're gonna do this!" And in one quick movement he had launched Kai a short distance away from him in the pool. Kari demanded a few turns as this was the usual game amongst the older males in the family: launching small children in the pool.

Slowly the night's guests arrived. Goten joined them in the pool as they waited for Bulma to bring the food around. Most of the older adults had gathered around the tables to reminiscence.

"Aunt Pan-Pan!" Kai, seeing his aunt swam towards the ledge of the pool, "Pan, Pan, Panny!"

Trunks turned to see that Pan had arrived with his sister; apparently they had decided to make a shopping trip while the older women had returned. "What is it, Kai?" She squatted down next to the ledge, giving Trunks a full view of her cleavage that peaked out from her white sundress.

"I want a drink," Kai pointed to the iced coffee she had in her hand. Pan held a finger up to her mouth, "Shhh, I will let you have drink but don't tell your mommy. She doesn't like you getting hyped up on coffee."

"Grandma Bulma gives me all the coffee I want," Kai exclaimed. It was true though, Bulma had a weak spot for the small children, even Shiro, that frequented around their house whether or not they were her true grandchildren. Ever since Trunks had graduated from college she had been on a "grandbaby craze". Trunks wasn't prepared and when Bulma couldn't start in on Bulla, she instantly turned to Gohan and Videl to "start popping out them babies;" she did have a lot of help from ChiChi though. "I promise I won't tell."

Pan leaned forward a little bit and extended her drink. Her nephew happily sucked up the last few gulps. "Ah, thanks Aunt Panna!" The boy had an endless amount of nicknames for her. Pan was relieved though that he did stop calling her "Auntie P.P." though. "I have to tell you something," Kai slowly began to levitate out of the pool, but just enough to not be too conspicuous. Pan leaned in close to listen but was suddenly surprised to have her nephew grab her by her wrist and pull her into the pool.

Goten erupted into laughter as he cheered his son on for getting a one up on Pan. Pan surfaced, completely mad, "Kai! Why would you do that?!"

Kai giggled as he hurriedly swam away to take refuge behind his dad's back, "Daddy says to always play pranks on Panny."

"Goten! I will get you for this!" Pan declared as she angrily pointed her finger at her brother.

Goten threw his hands in the air in a mock surrender, "I didn't tell him to do that!"

Bulla rejoined the party from putting her bags inside to find her best friend swimming in the pool with her dress on. Seeing the look on her husband's and son's face, she realized they must have done something to her to cause her to end up in that state. "Really, you boys can't pick on someone else. My brother," she pointed at Trunks, "is right there: pick on him! Pan just had her hair done and you got her all wet." Bulla extended her hand to help Pan out of the water, "Come on, Pan. I have some clothes you can wear."

Trunks watched as Pan exited the pool; he was perfectly fine with her staying in wet, white clothes, especially since he just learned she was wearing lavender colored undergarments. His wet fantasies were short lived though as he realized that his best friend and maniacal nephew were advancing towards him.

* * *

"Hey Trunks!" Goku slapped him across the back, "How have you been doing?"

Trunks swallowed his food that he was chewing; personally he was glad it didn't get lodged in his throat when Goku "patted" him on the back, and returned the friendly gesture to the older Saiyan, "Not too bad. What's it like to be back, Goku?"

"Well, I kinda feel like I never left," Goku laughed, "The kids look bigger and I guess I have grandkids now, but everything still feels the same. ChiChi's mad though, but she's always mad at me. Have you been training lately, Trunks?"

Trunks shook his head; sad to say that he had not been. Work had kept him pretty busy. For a while he was dating Marron but it didn't work out, that had been a few years back, and when they called it quit he had begun to realize his feelings for Goku's raven haired daughter. He really should of trained more often, it was just something that he needed to add to his to-do list.

"Sunday, the boys and I are heading out again. You should join us if you're free."

"Yeah, I can do that, Goku. Although, I will probably feel a bit behind," Trunks laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it," Goku replied, "Well, I need more food and it looks like Bulma made sure there was plenty. I'll see you around kid."

Trunks waved at the retreating Saiyan and set down on one of the lawn chairs to finish his plate of food, enjoying the moonlight reflecting off the pool.

Pan walked up, carrying Kaname with a plate of pureed foods in her hand that, and sat down in the chair next to Trunks.

"Sorry Kai got you wet," Trunks said to her, extending his hand to grab the plate she was carrying so she could adjust the baby on her lap better before handing it back to her.

"Well, it's to be expected. I just have to learn to always keep my guard up and never trust them," she laughed. "Oh well though, at least Bulla always carries extra clothes."

Trunks agreed, it was a family trait. He often carried extra business suits in capsules with him. He did it for mostly business reasons as some of his business partners preferred particular colors. Pan threw her long braid over her shoulder as Kaname reached for it.

"How does it feel to have your dad back?" Trunks asked, gestured to where Goku and his dad were. Apparently the two full blooded Saiyans had gotten themselves into an eating competition despite their wives yelling at them about table manners.

"It's strange. I feel like time has stopped since he was gone and it's suddenly rushing back to me. He missed so much…" Pan trailed away as she fed Kaname bites. "I guess, in a way, I'm just jealous that he could take off. I love him, he's my dad, but he missed everything. When I think of a father figure I often think of Gohan…or even your dad. Vegeta was there for me a lot, too. I didn't lack in that department but it's weird seeing the person that sired me so nonchalant about being gone."

"That's Goku for you though," Trunks commented, "Happy-go-lucky."

"Trunks, are you busy tomorrow?"

"No, why?"

"I invested in a friend's bar business a year ago and tomorrow is the opening night, would you be interested in going with me? I really don't want to go, especially since it is Bulla and Goten's date night and they have reservations somewhere else. I know if I don't go I will end up receiving a night of "woe is me" voice mails. It's supposed to be a dance bar that simulates raves. I'm completely unsure of how it will turn out but I have to at least make an appearance."

Trunks was shocked. Was she really asking him to go out with her? Wasn't this supposed to work the other way around with him asking her out? Either way he would take it: a chance to spend the night with the woman of his dreams. "I would love to go with you, Panny."

She beamed her pearly whites at him. "Oh thank you, Trunks. I can come by your place at seven or you can meet at mine? The bar isn't too far from my house, just a mile. It would be better to walk."

"I'll meet you at yours."

"Great!" Kaname, like a true Saiyan had eaten his plate in record time and was attempting to reach over for the rest of Trunks's food. "I'm going to go get him another plate. Thank you again, Trunks." Pan stood up to leave but before she did she reached down and kissed her fellow half-Saiyan on the cheek. Trunks reached up and placed a hand to caress the spot where his dream woman had kissed him. His moment was short lived as he heard Goten wolf whistle from across the pool earning him the "one finger salute" from Trunks.

* * *

Time had dragged by slowly for Trunks on Saturday. He was more than ready to head out for a night on the town with Pan. Although, he did feel slightly set up when Goten had sent him a text saying "you're welcome" with a ridiculous winky face and "thumbs up" emoji.

Trunks pulled his car into Pan's driveway, parked behind her car, and walked up to porch. Holding his breath he rang her doorbell. Pan opened the door; one hand was busy as she was trying to put her earring in.

"Trunks, have you never been to a rave?" Pan asked, gesturing to his attire of khaki pants and long black sleeved button up shirt that he had rolled up a quarter of the way.

Trunks shrugged, "The raves I went to were probably different." He made note of her outfit: her pink bra was visible through a low cut white shirt. She had a pair of white leggings on and wore a neon pink and green tulle skirt over it. Her hair was pulled off to the side in a sloppy, yet classy bun with a large white flower pinned to the top of it. He could vaguely tell that she had some sort of paint on her body which he realized probably was supposed to glow under a blacklight.

"You're supposed to wear neon or white," Pan said. "Do you have a white tank under your shirt?"

Trunks answered that he did as he stepped into her house. She had made several changes since he had last been here. Instantly he had noticed that she had replaced the furniture but he knew that Pan and Bulla had done a revamping after the failed wedding. "I almost always have one on."

"Then take your shirt off," she stood in front of him tapping her foot. "Your pants will pass though. You don't mind getting covered in paint though right?"

"Well, it's not like I can't afford to buy new clothes."

Pan laughed at his comment. "Good, because you're about to get covered."

* * *

They arrived at the bar named _Signs_ around nine that night to find a long line had already formed. Pan recognized the bouncer, who gladly let them pass into the building. It felt strange to Trunks that someone else's recognition was getting him into bars when usually it was the other way around.

After the passed the front desk where they received their drinking age bracelets and glow sticks, they entered through the door where the main party was held at. Trunks instantly saw that it was indeed paint on Pan's skin as her body lit up underneath the blacklights. She had painted intricate symbols across her chest and arms. She broke her glow sticks and began to shake them till the fluid was evenly spread. "You ready to do this?"

"After you," Trunks placed his hand on the small of her back as she led them to where the paint drums were. She explained to him that when she was in America these were the parties to go to but you always had to be careful since they were often referred to as rape parties. Her friend had wanted to start a club bar based on the idea of raves but wanted to create a safe environment. She had happily agreed to give him money was shocked to find that he had decided to build one in Japan but learned that his husband was from Japan and wanted to move back home.

It had been ages since Trunks had been out clubbing, the last time he had really gone to one was for Goten's bachelor party, and he was finding that he really enjoyed being out with Pan. That was, until he caught a familiar stock of brown dreaded hair…

"Pan!" Pan's eyes narrowed when she heard that familiar voice. Turning around she saw the last person she had ever wanted to see: Darren.

Darren ran up to them, oblivious that she was with Trunks, and grabbed her into a hug. She froze, sucking in her breath.

"I am so sorry, Panna. I know you can't forgive me but can we try to get over in and be friends at least? I've missed you so much and it was wrong to leave."

Trunks instantly began to feel his anger boil as he pulled Darren off of _his_ Pan.

"What are you doing here," Pan all but hissed at him as her fists began to close.

Darren was a bit taken aback by the roughness of her voice, "I invested in Miguel's business too, if you haven't forgotten already."

Pan had forgotten. If she had remembered that she would have stayed home for the evening, sitting in front of her television eating ice cream and sulking.

Trunks felt the need to let his presence be known, "I thought you left the country."

Darren's eyes narrowed at the imposing Saiyan, "I did, but I came back for this and because I knew that Pan would be here," he turned to Pan, reaching out for her again but she swatted him away. "I'm so sorry, Pan."

"Sorry, doesn't begin to cover what you did, Darren." Pan turned quickly, disappearing into the throws of bodies dancing around them.

Trunks grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close, his voice dangerously low, "Didn't I warn you?"

Darren gulped and nodded, "I…I just wanted to see her…even just one last time. I promise this is the last of me."

Trunks pushed the man away, not too rough though to cause him to stumble into other people but just enough to let him know that he meant business. "I suggest you leave." Darren nodded, fear in his eyes and visibly shaken, before he disappeared into the crowd of people.

Trunks reached out with his ki to scan his surroundings and felt Pan heighten her ki in return. He found her standing by the bar, a few empty shots in front of her.

"I'm sorry I left you back there, Trunks."

"It's alright. Do you want to leave?" He knew that they would have no problems from Darren the rest of the night but he didn't want to keep her here if she was uncomfortable.

Pan shook her head, "Nah, let's not let him ruin our fun. Let's just say "fuck it" and get drunk." She handed Trunks a shot and held hers up in the air. They clinked their glasses together and downed the pungent liquid.

The hours began to pass by quickly for Trunks as the two of them downed shots and drink after drink. The drunker the two demi-Saiyans got, they became covered more and more in the glow in the dark paint, Trunks's hair was beginning to mat from the weight of the sticky substances. The owner of the establishment had approached them at one point during the night and Trunks was surprised to find that the man was profoundly deaf. After Miguel had left, Pan explained to him that he had lost his hearing in an accident later in his life which was why he was able to vocalize verbally and read lips so well. What was more amazing was that Pan was communicating to the man mostly in sign language but had verbalized what she was sighing as not to leave Trunks out of the conversation.

The two of them danced together for what seemed like hours. Trunks was beginning to hope that this night would never end as he held his hands around Pan's hips as they swayed to the music. They were both pretty tipsy by Saiyan standards and knew that most people in the building had to be pretty drunk if they had started drinking at the time the club had opened. There were even a few people passed out on the couches and bouncers were trying their hardest to get the belligerently drunk people out of their facility.

All of a sudden Pan stopped, "We have a problem Trunks." She pointed to the entrance and Trunks followed her finger.

"Oh no…"

Shiro was standing at the doorway, his arms around his drunk friend as he desperately tried to hold Roland up.

* * *

"Roland, you have to help me buddy," Shiro said as he hoisted his friend up by the waist. It seemed like any time they made a movement down the alley his friend would have to stop and empty the contents of his stomach. He held back his friend's long blonde hair as he continued to heave.

"Want to tell me what you're doing?" Shiro whipped around, dropping his friend in the process to find his Aunt standing near them with her hands on her hips. Shiro noted that she and Trunks were both covered in paint and must have been at the club too. He thanked Dende that he was meeting her in the alley and not in the club: she would have caused a scene in there if she had found the two of them.

"Aunt Pan, um…." Shiro didn't know what to say but he quickly began to pick his friend up when he realized that he had dropped him.

Roland, coming briefly out of his drunken daze pointed at Pan, "Hey, hey, Shiro…it's one of your hot aunts." Trunks's eyes narrowed slightly at the drunken youth but he couldn't really blame the boy for having "the hots" for the vixen in front of him.

Shiro smacked his friend upside his head, "Shut up you, baka!" He turned to his aunt, clearly she was angry. "I'm so sorry, Pan. We bought fake I.D.s from someone and we just wanted to check the place out. I swear I didn't drink much and Roland apparently can't handle a few drinks."

"I take it this is why you offered to baby sit?"

Shiro nodded and became slightly terrified as his aunt stepped forward. He knew this was a terrible idea but he had desperately wanted to go. He swore to Dende that if he survived this he would never drink again.

"Trunks, can you carry Roland back to my house? There's police check points, I don't think we should attempt to drive." Trunks stepped forward and picked Roland up. Pan put her hands around Shiro's shoulder, realizing that the teen was probably just as tipsy as her.

"Thank you, Aunt Pan," Shiro was really thinking Dende that his aunt was always the most understanding member of his family.

* * *

Trunks laid the boy down on the couch and Pan covered him with a blanket after she placed a large bowl next to the couch in case he decided he needed to hurl. She took a cool wash cloth and wiped off the teen's face, attempting to get some of the bile off of him. Shiro had disappeared, clearly embarrassed after apologizing the entire walk to his Aunt's house.

"I don't think you should drive home Trunks. Even though my neighborhood is considered okay, we still have frequent police patrols because I'm so close to the bar district. Last thing you or Bulma will want to see is that you were pulled over for intoxication" Pan grinned at him before she disappeared for a moment and came out with a set of Goten's shirts and shorts that he had left over at her place one time. "Shiro passed out in the guest bed. I don't think you really want to sleep in the recliner; I'm alright if you want to share a bed with me. Bathroom is over there," she pointed down the hall, "I'll go get cleaned up too."

Pan headed towards her room leaving Trunks standing in the living room over the drunken teen. Did she really just say what he thought she said? Sure, they had shared a bed before and fallen asleep near each other, but this was different now. Back then it was just strictly as platonic friends. Could Trunks survive a night cuddled up next to the woman he loved most dearly in the world? Trunks's heart began to beat fast as he walked towards the bathroom to clean up; he had a feeling this was going to become an even more interesting night.

**A.N:** Sorry for any errors, I haven't had a chance to proofread thoroughly. I wanted to get this chapter out before I headed into work.


	3. Chapter 3

The Collector

Chapter Three

Trunks entered Pan's bedroom to find her already asleep. She had taken the time to pull back the covers of her bed but had passed out in the process of tucking herself in. Trunks pulled the comforter up over her, noting that her attire was rather skimpy as she had opted to wear a loose spaghetti strap tank top and underwear that was modeled after a men's fashion, he recalled them being called "boy shorts," but her outfit did look rather comfortable. Walking to the other side of the bed Trunks climbed in and began what seemed like the impossible task of getting comfortable.

Normally at home Trunks would sleep in the nude. The shorts Pan provided him were comfortable enough but he had a thing about shirt collars being on his neck when he slept and decided to go sans shirt. Now came the task of adjusting his "boys" to wear they would lie comfortably in his boxers – this was why he normally slept in the nude.

Sometimes it sucked to be a man, especially when it came to the matter of uncomfortable testicles.

Trunks rolled to his right side to face Pan who was oblivious to his discomfort. Her body was turned towards him, her face mere inches away from his. He reached out and pulled a few stray hairs away from her face, tucking them gently behind her ears. He trailed his hand down to grasp the end of her hair that was tied off in a loose braid. He noticed that it was still damp from her shower as he idly played with the end of her braid as he drifted off into sleep.

Trunks awoke to the smell of bacon tantalizing his senses, his ears picking up the faint crackle of the delicious pork. He made to move from the bed but stopped realizing that there were several things different: for one he wasn't in his bed, and he suddenly remembered that he was staying the night at Pan's, and secondly he was getting an eye full of a boob.

That's right: Pan's boob was peeking out of the side of her nightgown as if to say "Good morning, Trunks!"

Trunks gulped, suddenly realizing the position he was in. Not only was he getting to see a nice full perky view of Mt. Boob this early in the morning, but Son Pan had snuggled in close to him during the night, her head resting in the crook of his arm, her arm thrown across his belly, and her right leg intertwined with his.

And this ladies and gentlemen was when he realized that he had the most painful boner that he could ever remember in his existence. Trunks reached down with his left hand in an attempt to pull the blankets up to cover them, well to at least cover _him_.

Trunks began to pluck at the covers with his toes in an effort to grasp the sheets before they fell to the floor and hoisted them up to his arms reach. "_Just what in the world were we doing last night to throw everything off the bed_?" Trunks thought to himself. Vaguely he remembered that Pan had always a fitful sleeper. He remembered that for a while ChiChi had complained that her daughter was constantly ripping up pillows in her sleep – something that he thought was rather comical. He assumed that was probably why Pan had her own room at Capsule Corp because Bulla couldn't stand being kicked or punched in her sleep as her friend moved around.

He finished yanking the sheet over them and noticed Pan snuggle in closely, muttering in her sleep. Trunks smiled to himself despite feeling the uncomfortable pressure between his legs.

Maybe he could attempt to rub it out by using very small tiny strokes so as not to wake her but it was just too risky. He really didn't want to get up to leave the comfort of the bed or to risk moving and waking Pan. It wasn't like they were dating to where he could just flip her over and have his way.

Nope, none of these options were good and it thoroughly sucked.

Trunks inhaled and then slowly exhaled. "_Maybe I should just think of other stuff_."

"_Training."_

_"Paperwork."_

_"Stale Coffee."_ He looked down to still see a perky nipple peering at him. This wasn't working.

"_Shrieking secretary_." The thought of the middle aged blonde secretary that reminded him of his mother should do the trick. Maybe he should replace her; Pan was doing freelance work, maybe he could talk her into it…

"_Uptight shareholders_." Old men squabbling, that should do the trick…

It was working!

And then, his phone rang, jolting the both of them up. Trunks looked down to see Pan, still snug in his arms, peering up at him large onyx sleepy eyes.

He reached over and grabbed his phone off of the night table and looked at the screen: it was his mother. Well, he wanted his chubby to go away before Pan noticed, and if there was one way to get rid of it, well thinking of your mother or listening to her voice was enough to do it. He slid the screen lock and placed the phone to his ear and was accompanied by a loud banging noise in the background. "Mom?"

Static before, "Trunks? I need you to get over to the engineering department." More banging and a whirling noise, "one of the machines is going haywire. The engineers can't control it."

"Yeah, give me a few minutes, I'll be there," He hung up his phone and looked down to see that Pan hadn't moved. In fact she closed her eyes, inhaled a breath, and snuggled in closer to him.

Trunks sighed, "I've got to go, Pan."

"I know," she whispered, "just a few more minutes, this is nice."

Trunks's heart began to race and Pan had to admit that hers did too. She had taken a chance when she had woken up during the night to snuggle against her long time crush. She didn't expect to wake up in this position but she wasn't going to complain. Pan was willing to cling to these moments.

Pan smiled into Trunks's chest when she felt him encircle his arm back around her into a hug. They stayed this way for a few moments before Trunks sighed and declared he needed to go help his mother at their workplace. Pan watched him leave her bed and put on last night's clothes. He stopped at her door and turned back to her.

"I had fun last night, Pan," he casually placed his hand behind his head, "Um, would you be interested in dinner later tonight?"

Pan nodded, a smile forming at her lips, "Yes."

"Great! I'll come get you around seven!" And with that he left leaving a giddy Pan.


	4. Chapter 4

Please review :)

The Collector

Chapter Four

Pan smiled to herself as she entered her kitchen. Her nephew was in the process of cooking breakfast for them, his friend Roland, laid with his head on the island's counter as he massaged his temples. She slapped her hand down on the counter causing the teenage boy to jump.

"I take it you two had fun last night," She poured herself a glass of orange juice.

Roland groaned, "Don't mention it. I feel like shit; I'm never drinking again."

Pan laughed, "You say that but eventually you will drink again."

Shiro sat a plate in front of her full of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns, "So, um, Aunt Pan."

Pan put her hand up knowing very well he was about to beg her to keep their nightly escapade a secret, "Don't worry, I won't say a word. I have done worse than what you have."

"Oh thank you, Pan," Shiro breathed a sigh of relief. He pushed a plate of food towards his friend and sat down on a barstool at the island. "So, Trunks stayed the night with you in your room?" He raised an eyebrow at his aunt and smirked, knowing full well that his aunt had a major crush on him. After all Shiro was just six years younger than Pan and had tormented her during her early teenage years when he had found out that she was in love with Trunks.

"Now," Pan began between a bite of food and pointing her fork at the boy, "If you mention that to anyone, I will tell Grandma ChiChi about what you did last night."

Shiro nodded his head vigorously in understanding. It was one thing if his parents knew about him getting a fake identification and going to a bar, he could handle them, but his grandmother was far scarier than any human being alive and he was not ready to feel that wrath.

Pan finished her breakfast and fished a small senzu bean from the cabinet and handed it to Roland. "Eat this."

He lifted his head up and peered at her from in-between long blonde locks of hair, "What is it?"

"Just call it a magical hangover cure." Roland shrugged before popping the small green bean into his mouth. Pan was right, he felt wonderful. The consistent pounding in his head was gone and he didn't feel like he was going to hurl anymore.

"You boys better eat up, Shiro you're training today with Grandpa and everyone else," Pan turned to Roland, "I'll drive you home."'

* * *

Pan dipped her feet into the river that flowed by her parent's house located in Mt. Paozu. Kaien and Kari were in the river standing knee deep with their legs spread shoulder width apart and their hands forward. Pan joined them in the same stance, "Inhale and feel the energy of the water." Pan felt her eyesight shift as she entered a Maoin trance, Kari and Kaien following along. Her senses heightened as she felt the earth move about her. The tiniest molecules had become visible to her; she could feel the tremendous energy of the river flowing through her as it reached her fingertips and felt that she was now in control of it. She could move the water with her in this state, she could manipulate the atoms and molecules to her will. She felt the familiar tug and knew that she was centrally connected to the spirit of the Earth, she was one with the Earth and Earth was one with her.

A long time ago when the Earth was still young and humans were just emerging, a group of people known as Mao, Pan's ancestors, sought a high connection with the Spirits of the Earth. Being deemed worthy enough, they became the guardians. For many years they protected the Earth and kept the world aligned. But as the population of the world grew and evolved, it became too much for them. The title of Guardian eventually passed onto the Kami, who promised them to protect the Earth and watch over all the inhabitants. The people of the Maoin line still retained their ability to connect and control the world around them but the ability was stronger in others than most. Even though the members in the Son family were the last of the Maoin line, most of the men with Saiyan blood didn't possess the Maoin ability as well as the women in the family. ChiChi declared that it was because they allowed their Saiyan side to become more dominate and that Pan, who at a young age embraced both sides, could balance the two out. It was now Pan's job to pass the knowledge onto the next generation. Having been trained by both her mother and grandfather, she was proud of this honor.

Pan snapped her hands forward, feeling the tug and pull of the water encircling around a fish. Bringing her arms back in a fluid dance, she could feel the ball of water rise and a fish could be seen trapped inside. Her right hand danced forward, sweeping in front as she controlled the orb of water over to the embankment and released the fish upon it.

Kaien, being an energetic three year old, had lost all concentration that he was supposed to be holding and pounced on the large fish. He laughed proudly as he held it up by the tail. "Panny caught dinner!" He declared as he darted up the hill towards his grandmother's house, his feet levitating off the ground as he flew away from his aunt and cousin.

Kari was struggling to maintain her stance on the orb. Inside she had caught a smaller fish but being inexperienced the force of the orb of the water was weaker and the fish was banging against its sudden watery prison in attempt to rejoin the river. Kari gave an exasperated cry as she felt her focus break and the fish plop back into its home.

"Ah, I lost him," tears began to well up in her crystal blue eyes.

Pan smoothed her black hair down to soothe her niece, "Don't worry, Kari. You did well." It was suddenly eerily quiet where they were. Pan looked around, everything appeared to be the same but the voices of the forest around them had suddenly stopped. All she could hear was the babbling of the river and the distant kitchen noises coming from the house on top of the hill. Pan pulled her cellphone out of her pocket to look at the time; it was nearing four in the afternoon. She still had an hour until she would need to return home and get ready for her date with Trunks. It was probably best if they headed up to the house.

"Let's head back to Grandma's house, what do you say Kari?"

Kari wiped her tiny hands across her eyes to clear the tears away and nodded. Pan took her hand and the two walked back to her childhood home.

The two of them entered the kitchen to find ChiChi and Videl working on preparing the fish that Kaien had brought in. Kaien sat at the table, his feet swinging away as he proudly hummed to himself and colored in his book, pointing particular pictures out to Kaname who cooed happily from his highchair.

"Hiya, ladies!" Kaien looked up from his coloring, "Who's that you brought with you?"

All noises suddenly stopped and Pan felt the hair rise on the back of her neck as the same eerie feeling began to reach her senses. She quickly pulled Kari in front of her pushing her towards her mother and sister-in-law who both had turned around to see whom Kaien was talking about.

Mere feet from Pan stood a strange man in her mother's doorway. He was humanoid looking but what he was Pan was unsure of. His skin coloring was tan around his face but from the hairline and neckline it was a dark green, varying in lighter shades in a sort of speckled pattern. Underneath his left eye seven silver dots swooped up around his eye in a curve, the same silver dots, some sort of jewelry it seemed, followed along the curve of his eyebrow. The man reached forward, grabbing one of the knickknacks from the hutch and looked at the item. Pan noticed his fingernails were black as he held the figurine between his forefinger and thumb. His dark emerald green eyes smiled at Pan as he dropped the glass rose on the floor, the sound of glass shattering echoed in her ears. He swept his long black hair back over his shoulder. Most of it was held in a ponytail at the base of his neck but wrapped in the strands of his hair were various gemstones, beads, and a series of braids. His eyes were the most discerning to Pan though, she didn't know if it was the large amount of black eyeliner and eye shadow that surrounded the green orbs, but something about the man didn't feel right. Judging from his dark black and green clothing that was an unfamiliar fashion, Pan assumed that he was not from their world.

"Now look here, Mister," ChiChi began, "I don't know who you are but when we're in other people's houses we don't go around breaking things. I want to –"

"Mom, stop!" Pan felt her fists clench. "Take the kids and go find dad."

ChiChi began to speak up in protest but Pan stopped her, "Go, now! I don't know who this is."

ChiChi picked Kaname up from his highchair while Videl grabbed hold of the older two children's hands and left the room. Pan could feel their presence leave the house and hear her mom call for the Flying Nimbus. Pan was thankful that Videl could fly as she wasn't sure that the cloud could hold all of them.

She focused her attention on the man once she felt her family safely away from her. "Just who are you now?"

The man smiled at her again, exposing perfectly straight white teeth, as he reached forward to pick up another figurine from the hutch. He examined it thoughtfully before placing it back in its spot. He preceded this process with most of Pan's mother's favorite figurines.

Pan reached her ki out in an attempt to find her father and brothers. She couldn't feel them nearby; there was a chance that they could be training off this world or on the other side of it. She could feel Trunks's ki, although faint, still at Capsule Corp. Pan knew she would need help with this new guy but she would have to find some way to alert the others to his presence since she couldn't feel any sort of energy from him.

Pan pulled her phone out of her pocket which got the stranger's attention. She slid the screen lock open, her fingers knowing the exact movements she needed to press as she glared the man down. She glanced slightly at the screen as she pressed the contact button for Trunks, dialing his number. She sat the phone down on the table next to her before refocusing all of her attention back on the man.

"I will ask you again: who are you?" Still no answer, Pan felt her ki starting to rise in anger. The man gave her a sideways glance as he lifted his finger and pointed it over Pan's shoulder. A small ball of energy formed at the tip and he shot it past her, tearing a large hole into the wall. This man was dangerous. There was barely a ki reading on that blast and the damage was enough to fit three men standing shoulder to shoulder through the wall now.

The debris cleared, Pan waved her hand in front of her face to fan the dust away. "We should probably take this outside; my mother hates it when there's a mess in her house."

The man gave Pan that same irritating smile before he gave a mocking bow. Pan turned around, her senses running high, as she walked out of the new doorway this man put in her mother's house. She turned to see that he had followed her and took to the sky. She looked back to see that he too could fly. She had to get him away from here but she needed to get him closer to help. She powered up slightly before blasting off in the direction of Capsule Corp. She knew that there was a field about eighteen kilometers away from the city. That should be far enough from civilization and she hoped no one was out there to see the fight she knew was going to happen.

She landed in the clearing amongst the lush landscape and felt him land not too far behind her.

Pan turned to face him. "Now will you tell me who you are?!" she demanded.

The stranger formed a ball of red energy in his hand which he bounced from one hand to the other in a juggling act. "You could say I'm a collector of sorts," he all but purred. If it wasn't for the fact that he was rather creepy and had torn a hole in her parents' house, Pan would say that this strange alien would be "deviously handsome" in his own way at least.

"A collector?" Pan questioned him.

"Yes, but I'm guessing you would like to know my name though: it's Amuer." He smiled as he began to advance towards Pan.

"Stay back, mister, otherwise I might get violent," Pan declared and raised her ki in warning.

Amuer laughed, "I have a passion for rare things: living or inanimate."

Suddenly he appeared right next to Pan, his hand stroking her cheek, "You are a Saiyan are you not?"

Pan threw a punch at him but Amuer only jumped back, laughing in the process. "You can't hide it from me woman, I can sense it flowing through your veins."

He shot forward in a burst of speed, Pan brought her arms up to shield herself from his punch and in the process she swung her leg around in a kick. He held her leg, smirking at her. Pan tried to wrench free as he positioned his palm in front of her face, a blast forming in his hand. She quickly brought her hands up to protect her face as he released the energy blast. She flew backwards from the blast, her back connecting with a rock, which shattered from her impact.

Pan groaned and opened her eyes to see Amuer floating above her. She quickly brought her hands together and launched a blast of her own at him. Amuer dodged and landed on the ground, chuckling to himself as he watched his prey try to locate him. This Saiyan in front of him was an exquisite beauty and he could not wait to add her to his collection. He was going to enjoy playing with her before he subdued her.

His laughter alerted Pan to where he was. If ki blasts weren't going to work on him then she would have to try something else. She focused on the world around her and began pulling the water molecules out of the air to form a shield around her. She began to transform the water particles into spikes and shot them in rapid succession at Amuer. He seemed to be taken slightly aback by this new skill of hers but dodged each water spike easily. Pan threw her hands in the air, causing the earth to rise in slabs around Amuer, locking him into place.

Pan flew into the sky and pulled her hands back, "Ka..me…ha," blue energy was being to form in her hand. She was throwing all of her ki into this blast; she hoped that her earth prison would hold him.

"Me…HA!" She released the blast, blue energy colliding with Amuer as the earth around him ruptured from the blast.

Dust surrounded her and Pan tried desperately to sense Amuer. She didn't understand why he had no ki reading, only his attacks did and although they were rather powerful, the ki reading on them was faint. Something was strange about the man. She figured he was an alien but all living beings had a form of energy that could be sensed. What made this man so different?

Pan felt the wind rustle behind her and as she looked over her shoulder she felt a fist connect with her cheek. The force was strong enough to knock her out of the air and she felt the ground buckle around her. Amuer was suddenly in front of her, a ball of red energy in his hand. There was no way to avoid it as he smashed the blast into her stomach.

Pan felt the wind get knocked out of her as she desperately tried to suck in air but she only succeeded in coughing up blood. Amuer grasped her by her shirt and threw her away from him, laughing in the process.

Pan dragged her hand across what ground she could touch in an attempt to regain control of her body and to stop herself from flying into anything. She gasped when she felt herself get caught. She looked up to see Amuer smiling down at her…

* * *

Trunks wiped the sweat from his brow, glad that he had finally gotten everything under control. When he had arrived there had been a major malfunction on one of the inventions his engineers were working on. From what he could tell from the computer's reports was that it had a problem in the coding that became scrambled from a magnetic wave. Yet he couldn't place where the said wave came from.

Bulma clapped her hand on her son's shoulder. She was very proud of him. She knew it was right to call Trunks since he could easily subdue the machine. If she had asked Vegeta for help he would have showed up and blasted the machine to smithereens. "Well done, son. I'll take the reports and go over them to see what I can find. I might run them by your grandfather to see what he thinks of this situation."

"I'm going to power down the rest of the machines," Trunks commented. "I'll send a team in in the morning to check each one thoroughly."

Bulma agreed, "I'll head home then and you try to enjoy the rest of your day." She waved to her son and left.

Trunks hoped to enjoy the rest of his day especially since he had planned a date with Pan. "_Speaking of which, I should probably make reservations_." He pulled out his phone but as he did it began to ring, the screen flashed Pan's name and a photo of her.

He slid the answer button and held the phone to his ear, "Hey Pan –" He stopped when he could hear her voice over the receiver and then a loud boom. Something wasn't right and there was a slight panic to her voice that he could faintly hear over the phone before the call ended.

He ran out of the building and took to the sky towards her parents' home. He reached his ki out to feel hers rapidly rising and realized that she was not too far from the city.

He transformed into a Super Saiyan, hoping to use the power from the transformation to quickly fly to where he needed to be.

As he approached the clearing he could sense Pan, although weakly through a debris cloud covering the area. He sped up, desperate to get to her.

He stopped suddenly, he could see Pan visibly now, but there was someone else with her. He landed in front of the two, the earth slightly indenting from the impact.

"Trunks," Pan called his name weekly. A trickle of blood was visible from her mouth and she was worse for wear. She was badly bruised and her clothing was torn in places.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Trunks yelled at the strange man holding Pan. The stranger had her forced to her knees as his hands pulled her hair back to expose her neck towards him.

"Ah, a Super Saiyan," the green man commented, "My, my, the day is just full of surprises. If you excuse me sir, I need to check this new merchandise of mine." He ripped Pan's top off at the shoulder to expose the flesh beneath it. "Ah! An unmated female! Perfect." He slowly sank a black fingernail into her flesh and dragged it down her shoulder to her collar bone. Pan screamed as she felt her body turn white hot. The pain was blinding and caused her skin to gooseflesh. Amuer was doing something to her: there was some sort of venom in his nails that was pouring into her body. She could feel a cool tingling amidst the fire as her body began to go numb.

Trunks shot forward in a burst of speed, his fist connected with the strange man's face. Trunks quickly picked up Pan, cradling her in his arms, "Pan," he held her face, "Pan? Are you okay?"

Pan tried to speak, her mouth opened but no words came out. She could feel her body stiffening as the white hot flames spread throughout her body. She cried out but her voice only echoed inside of her head, she was feeling faint. Her body was quickly becoming her prison!

Amuer wiped the blood from his lip, licking his fingers off in the process. "Well, I see she has more reinforcements arriving," He directed his attention to the sky and Trunks could feel Goku, Goten, Gohan, and his father approaching. "I can see when I'm no longer welcomed." Amuer reached into his cloak and pulled out a strange device from his pocket. "Don't worry, I'll be back to collect my prizes." He turned the large red spindle on the device and disappeared from view.


	5. Chapter 5

The Collector

Chapter Five

After arriving on the scene and accessing that the threat was gone, Goku had instant transmissioned Trunks, Pan, and himself into the living room of the Capsule Corp home. It seemed like all insanitary ensued once Trunks laid Pan down on the couch. He took off his shirt, ripping strips off in the process to staunch the flow of blood from the wound on Pan's neck.

ChiChi, whom had been sitting on an adjacent couch quickly passed off her infant grandson to his mother and knocked Trunks out of the way as she screamed "What happened to my baby?!" She whipped around to look at Goku, "How could you let this happen?" Her fists were clenched and tears were pouring out of her eyes as Goku swopped his small wife into a hug.

"I came to find her like this, had I of known ChiChi," Goku patted her back, "If it wasn't for Trunks, it could be a lot worse."

Bulma had rushed into the living room with an emergency kit as Videl and Bulla escorted the frightened children out of the room. Bulma opened her bag and handed Trunks a senzu bean. "Give this too her, quickly!" She began to remove other items such as gauze and wound cleaner.

Trunks held Pan's head up, she felt so lifeless. Gently he pushed the senzu bean into the corner of her mouth and moved her jaw up and down to crush it. Bulla appeared carrying some clean linen and they all crowded around the couch. The wound where Amuer had opened the skin was closing, that was a good sign at least. "Her pulse is stronger now," Bulma announced as she shoved her son to the side once again to take over.

"What happened?" Vegeta demanded as he entered the room with Gohan and Goten. Videl had reappeared and hugged her husband tightly.

Trunks shook his head, "I don't know. I sensed her ki after she had called me, just as I was landing I saw this man injure her. Who is was I don't know."

Pan's eyes flew open to see Bulma peering over her. She no longer felt the white hot burning sensation but only numbness. She tried to speak but no words came out. Pan's heart began to beat faster as panic took over her body when she realized that she couldn't move from the paralysis.

"I can help you with that," They all turned to see the Guardian of Earth, Dende, enter with two people they had never met before. They both wore the same uniform, one of a dark navy blue with a gold emblem of a phoenix. One was a woman with caramel colored hair with skin that had a slightly blue hue. The other, whom had spoken, was a man with dark tan skin and green hair that swooped over his brown eyes.

Dende, feeling the sudden hostility in the room at the new strangers, spoke up, "This is Eloiny and Khalen, and they're from the Intergalaxian Police Force. The arrived at the Lookout just as soon as I felt a disturbance on Earth."

"IPF?" Vegeta spoke towards the two police officers, "What business do you have in this galaxy? I thought you were restricted from here."

The woman, Eloiny, nodded in agreement, "Ah, Prince Vegeta, it's been a long time." Vegeta's eyes narrowed at the alien woman, "I guess you are technically King Vegeta now. But to answer your question that restriction has been temporarily lifted as we hunt for the man who was just here."

The other officer stepped forward, "I can help the woman, if you will allow it. More than likely Amuer has done a paralysis on her. Let me assess her."

"It's quite alright," Dende assured the group as all eyes turned to focus on him and Vegeta as they were the only two people in the room that had ever heard of the Intergalaxian Police Force.

"Please," Trunks stepped away once again from the couch.

Pan's eyes moved towards the strange man as he knelt over her. There was an eerily similarity to Khalen as there was Amuer. "Miss, do you understand me? Blink your eyes twice if you do," Pan blinked at him. "Do you feel numb?" She blinked again as he pulled a syringe from a utility belt and a vial of blue liquid. He stuck the needle in the vial and began to draw out a few units of it. Khalen extended Pan's arm and stuck the needle in. Pan felt the coldness from the shot as it entered into her bloodstream. "Amuer uses a form of neurotoxin. This is the only antidote," He turned to back to Pan, "It will be awhile before the effects of the toxin wear off. I take it that you're starting to feel some sensation?" Pan blinked her eyes as she mentally tried to flex her fingers but knew they weren't. Trunks stepped back into her view and propped her up on the couch pillows so that she could better see the room.

"Now can someone tell us what's going on?" Goten asked as he wrapped his arm around his wife's waist.

ChiChi wiped her eyes with her handkerchief as she sat down on the couch next to her daughter. "What monster would do this to my baby?" Pan tried to speak to protest against her mother but finding that she couldn't, rolled her eyes instead.

Khalen took his place besides his partner, "We are both officers of the IPF. The man that attacked that her goes by the name Amuer Andrul, or known by some as the Collector. He has a fascination with species, rather they are nearing extinction or not."

"Why weren't we able to sense any energy on him though," Goku inquired. "I could tell once I saw him that he was very strong, but it doesn't explain why he can hide his ki."

Eloiny pulled a file out of her tablet and projected it to the room showing a photo of Amuer. "That's because he is a god."

"What?!" The room echoed.

"Amuer was once a kami of the Noxariam galaxy. Apparently there was dispute amongst him and the other Kamis and he lost his position. He was forced to give up his immortality, but he is still quite strong. Him once being a kami is why you cannot read his ki."

"After Amuer's exile he began to travel across the galaxies, but what he has been doing is unspeakable," Khalen's fist closed tightly, his knuckles turning white. "He selects a group of people to take back to a planet he took over in this galaxy. There he breeds with the women or forces the race to mate with each other. He's creating a menagerie of rare breeds and to ensure the rarity he destroys the planet to make sure that he holds the last of the race in his collection.

"We believe that he targeted Earth because you, the last of the Saiyans are here."

"Saiyans can only bear children of those they are mated to," Gohan interjected, "Does this mean..." He trailed off as he glanced at his sister.

Eloiny nodded, "You're all in danger. If you are mated he would just breed you and use your children."

"Well you heard the man, Trunks," Vegeta yelled out to his son, "Better claim the girl before some ex-god decides to!"

Trunks visibly paled before his face turned bright red. If Pan would have had control over her body she would have probably of done the same.

Trunks began to stammer, trying to find the words to cover what his father just said. "How is it you know that this is what he's doing?"

"Amuer is technically my father," Khalen declared. "My mother was a Worvien from the planet Govi. Amuer raised me for sixty years and I still do not know why he does what he does. I had promised my mother that I would find a way to stop him and I got away from him the first chance that I got."

"Amuer isn't our biggest threat though," Dende spoke and everyone turned their attention to him. "When these two officers appeared on the Lookout, Mr. Popo and I had just realized that the Blackstar Dragon Balls had gone missing from their hidden location. We suspect that Amuer has them. From what the IPF has told me about him collected rare beings, it makes me suspect that he knows what will happen if the Balls leave Earth."

"What does this mean?" Goku asked, knowing that the answer would not be good.

Dende looked dejectedly at the group, "It means that if the Balls aren't returned to Earth within a year's time, the Earth will destroy itself. If he knows this information, which I'm sure that he does, it means that he's insuring that you will be the last of a Saiyan-human hybrid."

Vegeta felt his anger skyrocket at this sudden new information, "So you're telling me that this ex-kami is merely toying with us?"

"We received a transmission from headquarters that a strange orange orb with three black stars had shown up. Dende confirmed that this was a Dragon Ball. Considering Amuer sent it to our HQ means that he knows we are tailing him and he wants to play a game," Eloiny confirmed their suspicions.

"We have to get the Dragon Balls back," Goku began, "Even if we have this man hunting Earth, we still have to protect the Earth too."

"I have a spaceship that could carry three people comfortably," Bulma stated.

"I will go then," Goku declared.

"Goku! You just returned and you already want to leave? Can you not stay still without having to run off and save the Earth every time it's threatened?"

"But ChiChi, I have to," Goku pouted.

Eloiny cleared her throat, "I suggest that since we are dealing with the reminders of the royal Saiyan family that someone from them goes. Since King Vegeta has a reputation across the galaxies, I believe one of his children should go."

"I'll go," Trunks stated, "Mom, you'll have to cover everything at Capsule for me though." Bulma nodded in agreement.

"I'm going too," Pan spoke. She had at least regained feeling in her face but not in her body. She could feel some sensation returning below her neck but still couldn't move.

"No, Pan," Gohan interjected, "It's not safe. This Amuer has already almost killed you. You're not strong enough. At least if I go there is a chance that if we need to, Trunks and I can fuse together. Him and Dad will need that strength in space?"

"I'm just as strong as you, Goten! Yes Amuer might have gotten the upper hand but I can just train to get stronger. Besides I know more alien languages than you!"

"The girl is right," Vegeta defended Pan. "If my planet was still in existence I would have her as an ambassador. She knows several languages and would be of use."

"I am not letting my only daughter go into space!" ChiChi turned to Pan, patting her daughter's arm, "I won't lose you. I have lost your father countless times but I couldn't live with myself if something was to happen to my baby girl."

"Mom – I can protect myself. And if I'm going with Trunks and Dad, I will be fine. They need me for this!"

"Your mother is right," Trunks spoke to Pan. He couldn't have her go into space with him. Not when there was a man that was out hunting unmated Saiyans. Except for the Saiyan children, him and Pan were the only two unmated adults. There was no way he would allow for anyone to take that claim from him. "It's safer for you to stay here where my father and Gohan can protect you."

"I don't need to be protected!" Pan so very much wanted control of her body. This would have been the time when she would have shown them how strong she really was. "You need me for this trip!"

"Pan this isn't the time to argue with us," Gohan said, "Dad, Trunks, and Goten are going. I will train with you while they are gone. We will go spend a day in the time chamber that way you can get stronger for if Amuer comes back and I have a feeling that he will." Pan huffed, never had she felt so helpless and ridiculed than she had now.

"It's decided then," Goku began, "The three of us will go. Bulma can we leave tomorrow?"

"Excuse me?!" Bulla spoke up, angry that her father-in-law was so eager to take off, "Kaien's birthday is this weekend; I'm not allowing his father to run off into space!"

Bulma agreed with her daughter. Her grandson did not need his father missing his fourth birthday party, especially not when everything had already been planned out for months. "I can spend the week getting the ship prepared with supplies and doing adjustments. If we set off next week it will give everyone time to tie off loose ends with their jobs."

"Ma'am," Eloiny spoke, "I understand you have a radar that can pinpoint the location of the Dragon Balls?"

Bulma nodded, "I do, but it might take me awhile to program it for coordinates for space."

"If you give it to us, we can take it to our Headquarters and prepare the radar for you. Our ship is docked not too far outside of Earth's orbit. In a week the three of you can meet us there and we can go over more information on Amuer."

"We will take our leave," Khalen declared. He turned to Pan and spoke, "It might be a few hours before you regain control of your body. I suggest that you try to sleep it off."

"I'll return to the Lookout then. Goku, when you get the chance, come see me." The officers of the IPF bowed to the group and left with Dende.

Pan was angry. Not only would it take a while to regain control of her body but she felt so childish right now. It just wasn't fair. She had spent all her life in the shadow of her brothers and just when the chance to prove herself comes along, she is instantly sent to the corner like a scolded child. Bulla knelt down in front of her friend, "Are you okay Pan? You're covered in blood."

Pan huffed, she had forgotten about that. "The last thing I really want to do is sleep covered in it." She looked at her friend with pleading eyes, Bulla understood even without words being spoken and nodded.

"Trunks," Bulla turned to her brother, "Can you take Pan up to my old room?"

Trunks blushed as he scooped Pan up into his arms, the embarrassment of his father still fresh in his mind. How was he going to explain that awkward moment to Pan if she asked about it. He looked down to see Pan avoiding his gaze; he could tell that she was mad at her. He couldn't really blame her; he had just told her that she wasn't strong enough even though she had fought off Amuer for as long as she had. He entered Bulla's old room and his sister directed him to lay Pan down in the tub in her bathroom.

"Are you doing okay, Pan?" He asked as he propped her head up with one of the inflatable bath pillows.

Pan looked at him, her eyes showing betrayal. "I'm fine…I just feel dirty." In truth she really did. From what she could feel, she was beginning to feel the itchiness that comes from crusted blood.

"I'll take it from here Trunks," Bulla said as she shooed her brother out of the room. She sat down of the step of the tub. "I'm going to cut your clothes off Pan; I don't think you really want to keep them."

Pan nodded in agreement, "Thank you for doing this Bulla." Tears started to form at the corner of her eye.

"It's alright, Pan." Bulla wiped her friend's tear. It wasn't the first time she had seen her best friend cry and she could feel her pain. Pan was always strong willed and hated to be considered weak. She knew that her vulnerability was eating away at Pan's heart, especially because she was in a situation that required her needing to be bathed by someone else. Pan was glad though that Bulla, someone she had considered a sister all her childhood, understood her so well. Bulla removed Pan's clothes and began to fill the tub. "Can you feel the water?"

"No." Bulla adjusted it till it was warm and began to pour a bubble bath mix into the tub. She removed one of the flexible wands and hit the switch on it so that water would pour out of the shower head. Bulla began to rinse where the blood was and noticed the mark that ran from Pan's neck and down to her collarbone.

"Whatever that guy did to you, is going to leave a scar."

Pan sighed, "He did it with his fingernail."

"Wow, he really needs the number of my manicurist then!" The two girls laughed. Bulla continued to wash her friend, "Pan, I don't want Goten going into space. I haven't told him, I was going to announce it at Kaien's party, but I'm pregnant."

Pan smiled, she loved having nieces and nephews and this was exciting news. Pan knew that her mother would definitely be ecstatic to having another grandchild to coo over. "I don't want to be pregnant while he goes off. Kaien's pregnancy was hard enough, I need my husband."

Pan's mind began to quickly form a plan. "Don't worry Bulla; I'll take his place in space." Bulla raised an eyebrow in question at her friend. "The night before I need you to go on a "business trip," I'll watch Kaien that night, don't worry about him, but I have an idea. But I need you to encapsulate everything that a girl might need and gather some supplies for me."

"How are you going to pull it off?" Bulla knew her friend was crafty when it came to far out plans, but just how was she going to get this one to work without everyone finding out.

"Don't worry, though. I'll make sure that Goten doesn't make it."

* * *

Vegetable lov3r: I hope that this chapter answers your questions. Thank you for reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

The Collector

Chapter Six

Trunks didn't know what he had gotten himself into when his sister declared that he should have his nephew over for a sleepover. Not knowing for how long he would be in space, Trunks thought that a sleepover and then a trip the next day to the zoo before Kaien's four year old birthday bash would be a great chance for some Uncle – Nephew bonding time. It seemed easy enough.

Or so he thought…

Trunks loved his nephew, he really honestly and truly did. He just forgot how wild young boys were.

Trunks had been off work for an hour when Bulla had shown up at his door at four in the evening with a bag of clothes for him and explicit instructions on how to care of her son, before she departed for a "much needed" date night with her husband. They were already into their third hour of "bonding" time and Trunks didn't know if he could last any longer. The boy ate nonstop and had to constantly be doing something. They had already swam in the pool, had had a small sparing secession, and the small child had already cleared out several plates of food.

Trunks was staring at the local pizza parlor's delivery menu when Kaien entered the room.

"Uncle Trunks?" Kaien asked.

"Yeah, buddy?" Trunks turned to his nephew in the doorway and let out a slight gasp of surprise. The boy was covered head to toe in dirt and was carrying one of the ferns from outside in his hand. "Why are you dirty?"

"I was landscaping!" He proudly held up the plant but dropped it on the ground to tug at the waistband of his pants, "I have to poop."

"Um…you know where the bathroom is."

"Yeah, but I need help wiping. Sometimes I can't get it and I don't like my butt dirty."

Trunks felt the color from his face leave. He quickly reached for the folder of his sister's instructions and began thumbing through the papers in an effort to find some kind of information on what to do in a situation like this. Nothing.

Why didn't she warn him that this could happen?

"Can you hold it?"

Kaien half shook his head and half nodded. "For a little."

"What does your daddy do in situations like this?" Trunks asked "_Surely, if Goten can do it, I can do it_," He thought to himself, slightly panicking.

"Mommy does it." Trunks swallowed the knot in his throat; of course his sister would be the one to do it.

"Um….well," Trunks pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his contacts. Marron was on some trip with her boyfriend; his mother was busy getting the ship ready, his dad was out of the question, ChiChi had no car…his finger stopped on Pan's number.

Pan! She would know what to do. He hit the call button and held the phone to his ear and listened to it ring.

"Hello?" Her voice rang over the receiver.

"Pan! Are you busy?"

"I'm babysitting Kaname while Gohan has to attend a seminar, why?"

"Well, this is embarrassing," Trunks blushed, feeling slightly ashamed about what he needed to admit to his crush, "I have Kai over here for a sleepover."

"Em'hmm, Bulla told me she was going to drop him off. How's it going with you two?" He could hear her clanking around in the background, she was probably looking through her cabinets for something to eat.

At this point Kaien had climbed up onto the barstool and was listening intently to the conversation his uncle was having. "Is that Aunt Panny?"

Trunks nodded to him, "Yeah, well: Kai has to use the bathroom and, well, he…"

Pan's laughter sounded over the phone, she knew about her nephew's "dirty butt" situation and how he often asked for extra assistance in the bathroom, "So I guess you're saying that you need help?"

"If you're not too busy…"

"It's alright. It will take me awhile to get over to your place though. I'll have to drive since I have Kaname."

"Well, Kaien says he can hold it," Trunks looked at his nephew who was happily drawing on the corner of the takeout menu. "Is it too much for you to ask to pack a bag? I don't know if I can do this by myself."

"Yeah, I can be over in twenty."

"Sounds good, I'll do something until then." Trunks heard the beep that singled the call was disconnected. Kaien looked up to his uncle. "Is Aunt Pan-Pan coming over?"

Trunks nodded to him, "Yes, she said she can be here in twenty minutes; do you think you can hold it that long?"

"Maybe…It's kinda sitting there."

"What do you mean by that?!"

Kaien shrugged, "Daddy calls it prairie dogging."

Trunks groaned, he knew what that term meant and he wasn't going to take any chances! He quickly grabbed the boy and took him to the bathroom.

His nephew was covered head to toe in dirt. Thankfully the boy was running around shirtless and the only thing he really had to worry about was his dirty swimming shorts.

Trunks pointed at the toilet, "You might as well sit."

"I want some privacy." Trunks stood to leave but Kaien stopped him, "Crack the door and don't go far!" Panic was in his little voice.

Trunks stepped out and cracked the door. He could hear Kaien lift the seat, the lid clinking against the tank.

"Uncle T?" Kaien's voice called out.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Can I play with your phone?"

Trunks laughed, "What?"

"Daddy lets me play with his phone since it takes a long time."

Trunks swept his hand down his face, "Um…well," He snickered to himself. This was turning into some night.

"Or can I have a magazine?" Trunks thought for a moment. He really didn't have any magazines that would probably interest the kid and he knew that if he handed his nephew one of _those_ magazines, his sister would most definitely kill him. He quickly ran to the kitchen to grab the assortment of catalogs that he had received in the mail. Truthfully he would only thumb through them as most of the products in them were produced from Capsule Corp or the articles were all about products that were in development through his company. Trunks took the pile and handed it to his nephew through the crack of the door before returning to his post sitting outside of the said door.

Trunks pulled out his phone, five minutes had passed since he had spoken with Pan and she should be on the way by now. He pulled up his travel app and typed in her address then his to see if there were any traffic alerts. So far it looked like there were none which was amazing for a Friday night. He just hoped that Kaien was a long pooper, he didn't know what he would do if the kid was ready to get off the toilet. He supposed he could throw him in the tub, but he didn't have experience giving a kid a bath before. Trunks groaned inwardly: why hadn't he of volunteered to babysit his sister more as a teen. At least he would have known more of what do to in situations like this.

Kaien started to sing to himself, a tune that Trunks vaguely knew from a kid's movie. He glanced down at his phone; another five minutes had passed. Hopefully, she would get here soon.

"Uncle Trunks?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm aallll through," Kaien sang to his uncle.

"Aunt Panny should be here in ten minutes."

"Oh, okay, I will sit." Kaien began to sing more of his show tunes and as thumbed through the magazines while his Uncle sat outside of the bathroom door with his head in his hands.

Minutes passed and Trunks heard a knock on the door before it opened.

"Hello?" Pan's voice echoed and Trunks could hear the distinct clatter of bags hitting the floor.

"Down the hall," Trunks got up from his post and walked to his front room. Pan had dropped a diaper bag and her bag on the floor and was holding the car seat containing Kaname.

"He still in the bathroom?"

Trunks nodded that Kaien was. Pan held out the car seat to him, "Here, take Kaname out and I'll go help Kai."

Trunks looked down at the baby in the car seat; blue eyes stared back up at him in confusion at the stranger. Truthfully, Trunks wasn't a stranger to the kid, he just never interacted with him as much as he did with the older siblings. Sighing to himself at being traded one kid for another, Trunks put the seat down and pushed in the buttons that would fold the handles backwards. He released the harness and scooped the baby up in his strong hands. Kaname's eyes widened at the sight of this new man within such a close proximity. The infant giggled at the slight bouncing the older man was doing before he reached over and grabbed a tuft of lavender hair in his tiny fist.

"Ouch," Trunks sucked in air as he used his other hand to try to pry his locks from the quarter Saiyan's grasp. Kaname held on tighter, giggling at the noises Trunks was making. "Ah, let go, Kaname that hurts."

More giggles, but this time the baby had leaned in closer to shove his fist full of hair into his mouth; drool drizzled down his rosy cheeks.

"Pan!" Trunks walked down the hall back to the bathroom. Pan had Kaien in the shower and was hosing him down with the detachable shower head in an effort to remove the inch layer thick of dirt from him. Kaien was happily chatting away to his aunt as he told her about all the adventures he had that day and would be having tomorrow.

Pan turned around as Trunks entered and quirked her eyebrow at him.

"Can you pry my hair from his grasp?" Trunks pointed at the dark haired infant that was happily wrapping more of Trunks's hair in his tiny fists.

"Kaname," Pan spoke her infant nephew's name to get his attention as she walked forward with her hands outstretched, "I'm gonna get you!" Long fingers darted out to the baby and connected with his ribcage as she tickled him. Kaname erupted in giggles and in an effort to swat away his attacker, had let go of Trunks's hair. "Tickling is about the only way to get him to release any hold. There's a playpen in his bag, you can put him in it and I'll finish getting Kai cleaned."

"Have you eaten?" Trunks asked.

Pan shook her head, "No, I was about to when you called."

"I'm hungry!" Kaien declared as he rubbed the shampoo in his hair.

"I know you've done nothing but eat all day!" Trunks commented, "I'll put this kid up and order us something to eat then."

-XoXoX-

Kaien sat happily at the island counter, swinging his feet back and forth, as he shoved another slice of pizza into his mouth. Pan sat her phone down on the counter, "I sent Gohan a text to let him know we were over here. He said he would be by around eleven to get Kaname."

"Some big meeting?" Trunks inquired.

Pan shrugged as she picked up a slice of pepperoni, "Dun'no. He said it was some emergency meeting of the superiors. Videl was out at a school function for Kari and couldn't come home. I told Gohan I could watch Kaname since he had taken him out earlier for his checkup."

Kaname made babbling noises from his highchair as he watched the older Saiyans eat. Pan opened up one of the baby food jars and began to spoon feed him.

"When can Kaname eat big people food?" Kai asked as he watched his little cousin eat what looked like mush pudding.

"Well, he has two teeth now. Very, very soft foods he could probably eat but they would have to be cut up really small. We don't want him to choke on them."

"Could he eat pizza?" Kaien pushed down on his pie and noticed that they squished slightly when he poked at them.

"I don't see why not." Pan took a pinch of her pizza and tore it into really small chunks and held them out to Kaname. Kaname happily took the morsel and shoved it into his mouth, cooing excitedly.

"I think he likes it," Trunks commented as the youngest Saiyan of their group reached back out for more of his aunt's pizza.

The night was a bit of a whirlwind for Trunks. After dinner the evening had to have a dance off on the gaming console. That was quickly followed by rounds of karaoke of the most current pop music. Trunks was rather thankful that Pan had concluded at ten that they should settle down for the night with a movie. Kaien happily choose the new animated movie that had to involve a lot of harrowing feats of strength and wisdom from the main antagonist.

Trunks must have dozed off, for he awoke to the sound of knocking on the door. He could sense Gohan on the other side and looking down at his watch, noticed that it was eleven. Noticing that the other occupants in his house were asleep, he opened the door quietly for Gohan.

"Hey, how's it going?" Gohan said as he stepped in.

"Pretty good," Trunks replied as he finished putting the last of Kaname's capsules in the diaper bag. "Pan fed him a bottle around ten."

"Alright, he'll be hungry in a few hours then," Gohan prepared the car seat.

Trunks chuckled; he had thought that normally most babies at this age would sleep through the night, "I guess Saiyan babies eat a lot."

"Mmmhhmm, I don't think Videl would be able to keep up with all of them if it hadn't of been for all of us being around. I use to tease her that she was a milk factory, that was until she hit me with Mother's frying pan." The two older men shared a laugh.

Gohan reached down to scoop up his son from Pan's arm. Pan had fallen asleep on the couch, her head resting against the arm of it. Kaname was cradled in her hands while Kaien was curled up behind her legs, his head resting on her hip.

Pan's eyes shot open and darted out to grab at whoever was attempting to take her infant charge from her. Sensing her brother, her senses calmed back down.

"Thank you, Pan," Gohan whispered as his sister closed her eyes and nodded back off to sleep. Gingerly, he secured his seven month old son in his car seat and gathered the rest of his belongings. Gohan stopped at the door and put his hand on Trunks's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.

Looking over his glasses at the younger Saiyan man, Gohan whispered, his voice low enough to where only the two of them could hear what he was about to say: "Take care of her."

Trunks nodded in understanding, "I will."

Gohan smiled, "Well, I'll be seeing you around tomorrow then. Thanks again, Trunks."

After Gohan left, Trunks went to the task of moving his other houseguests to more comfortable sleeping positions. But before he began to pry Kaien from his sleeping spot, Trunks took a moment to breathe in the scene and recalled events from the evening. _"Would it be like this to have my own family?"_ He thought to himself as he carried Kaien in his arms and deposited the small child into the guest bedroom.

Trunks tucked a few stray hairs of Pan's behind her ears as he watched her chest rise and fall. As gently as he could, he cradled her in his arms as he walked up the stairs to where one of the extra guest bedrooms was and his bedroom. He toed the door to the guest bedroom open and easily pulled back the covers to the bed. He laid Pan down and pulled the covers over her, tucking them around her. Taking a chance he leaned down, his lips brushing lightly over her forehead.

"Good night, Trunks," Pan's voice was soft; she was obviously tired from the evening's activities too.

Trunks smiled, "Good night, Pan." He closed the door over, leaving it opened just a crack before walking down the hall to his room.

-XOXOXO-

I would like to thank those of you that have reviewed, I greatly appreciate it! I will be taking a short break as I will be attending War of the Iron Fist this weekend and will be busy trying to get all my lab reports done, a head start on future assignments, and studying for three exams so I can have a fantastic weekend.

In the next chapter: Bulla reveals her pregnancy at the birthday bash and the gang takes off to leave and Pan is going to have to use an unconventional method to make sure that Goten stays behind.


	7. Chapter 7

The Collector

Chapter Seven

"Be careful you don't get that on me," Trunks warned as Pan handed Kai, who was sitting on his shoulders, an ice cream cone.

"I won't," the small boy chided in as he happily took the offered chocolate cone. "Mmmm."

"Here is yours." Pan extended the strawberry cone to Trunks.

"Thank you," He licked at the fluffy goodness, the instant cooling sensation brought back a wave of childhood nostalgia.

"So," Kai began between licks of his halfway gone ice cream cone, "Why don't I have a tail? Everyone calls me a "little monkey," and I know I'm a Saiyan, but how come my tail isn't there?"

"Your mom had it removed," Trunks replied.

"But why? Just think of how cool it would be to have a tail, Uncle Trunks," Kai gestured to the black spider monkey that was hanging from a branch by his tail, "I could do so much more with a tail!"

"Yeah, I guess it would have its benefits."

"Grandpa Vegeta said that we can turn into Oza..orus…"

"Oozaru," Pan corrected, "It translates into "Great Ape.""

"Have you ever transformed?"

Pan laughed, "No. As far as I know we need our tails and a full moon to accomplish that."

"Do you think Grandma Bulma can make me something to regrow my tail?"

Trunks shrugged, "She probably could, but you might want to talk to your mom about it."

Kai, finished with his cone, shuddered at the idea of asking his normally overbearing mom a question like that, "Nah, I think I'll pass." The two older adults shared a laugh as they walked around the zoo and finished looking at the exhibits.

Trunks looked down at his watch, "We better get going. It's almost five and I told Bulla we would be back at Capsule before then."

Pan nodded, "Yes, but look at the exit."

Trunks turned his gaze to towards the aforementioned gate and groaned. A group of reporters, more commonly known as the "paparazzi," had lined up along the gate, notebook and pens ready for an interview. Trunks lifted Kaien off of his shoulders and placed him on the ground, "Take a hold of your aunt's hand; they like to get a little overbearing and shove people around."

Trunks put his arm around Pan's waist unconsciously and pulled her closer when they reached the gate. An immediate swarm of reporters bombarded him questions as they fought to put their microphone in front of the President of Capsule Corporations face.

"Mister Brief!" A slender man with a blonde handlebar mustache and oversized aviator glasses shoved his wave to the front, "What is this we hear about you taking a yearlong vacation?"

Other reporters began to chirp in that they would like to know too, each one eager to get the story of the night.

"I am taking the time off to focus all of my attention towards personal matters," Trunks responded as he went into business mode. Pan noticed the change in his voice as it lowered in tone. She gently placed Kaien in front of her, being careful to make sure he didn't get trampled by the eager reporters.

Pan was surprised when a female reporter shoved a microphone in her face and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Miss Son," she drawled the vowels, "It was reported that you were at _Signs_ on opening night and had an altercation with front man of rock band _Azai_ and former fiancé, Darren. Care to comment on it?"

Pan felt Trunks's hand tighten around her waist and give her a reassuring squeeze, "No, I really don't?"

The blonde reporter persisted, "Do you have anything to say about Darren's new fling with model Chri?"

"I did not know about it and I really don't care."

"This is the second time in less than a week the two of you have been seen in public together," The previous reporter with the mustache began, clearly agitated that the blonde woman had interrupted his interview, "Can we assume that there are more than the usual long-time-family-friend feelings going around?"

Trunks held up his hand, his eyes dark, "That is a personal question and one I feel is rather rude. If you will excuse us, I need to return home as it is my nephew's birthday. My mother has allowed a few reporters to his party and if I have time, and you are one of the fortunate ones to be there, I will answer more work related questions during the festivities." Trunks drew himself up to his full, imposing height, and forced the crowd of reporters to clear a path for them to get through to his car.

-XOXOX-

Pan swirled her champagne in her glass, watching as the bubbles rose to the surface and popped.

"There you are!" Pan turned to see Bulla coming towards her. The blue haired woman grabbed her arm and pulled her into the house. The two went up near Bulla's old room, making sure that no one was around.

Bulla shoved a hard case the size of a small wallet into Pan's hands. "Here, I have just about everything a girl might need in there. There's also a lot of gagets and a few things that I know I can't live without."

Pan placed the case inside of her clutch and closed it, "Thank you, Bulla."

"What are you planning though?"

"I have a good idea of what to do, but it's going to be harder to get the ship to take off with me on it."

"The ship is like most of mom's inventions: find the master key and hold it hostage."

Pan shook her head in understanding to this information, "Have you told Goten you're leaving?"

"Yes, he's not too happy since he thinks it is his "last night" on Earth. I told him you will be at our house around noon so he can go out and get things prepared."

"Good, that gives me time to get things ready."

"We better get back; I'm going to make the announcement soon," Bulla patted at her still flat stomach.

The two made their way down the stairs but Pan stopped when she noticed a movement in the kitchen as they passed it. She smiled to herself when she entered. Vegeta had a collective assortment of foods scattered on the counter and was assembling himself a sandwich of various meats and cheeses.

"The caterer's food not to your liking," Pan inquired as she watched him slather a slice of rye bread with mayonnaise.

"Woman told me I couldn't eat anymore," Vegeta grunted at Pan's laughter.

"Sounds like Bulma."

"That reminds me," Vegeta reached into his pocket and pulled out an object before tossing it towards Pan.

She easily caught it and held it in her fingers. It was a triangular emblem on a silver chain with an Oozaru holding a war hammer in his left hand and a book in the right. Underneath the Great Ape were the words written in their old Saiyan language: Power. Conquer. Rule.

Pan raised an eyebrow, "What is this for?"

"I don't know what you are doing, but I know you have something planned. That signifies you as an ambassador to the Saiyan race; I think it is a fitting title for you."

Pan smiled as she carefully placed it into a hidden compartment of her clutch. She threw her arms around Vegeta's neck and pecked him on the check, "Thank you!"

Not one for emotions, especially from those of the more "delicate" gender, Vegeta blushed slightly in response, "Now kid, don't make me regret it."

"I won't." Pan flashed more of her pearly whites at the man she considered a second father before she returned to the party.

-XoXoXoX-

Trunks emerged from the group of reporters that had been allowed to the celebration and watched them leave. Now that it was considered "family" time, he removed was free to remove his tie and unbutton his shirt and roll up his sleeves. He heaved a sigh of relief: he was not going to miss reporters on his trip into space.

"Feel better?" Trunks turned to see Pan. She offered him a glass of champagne, which he promptly downed.

Pan giggled, "That bad, huh?"

"Not really, I'm just relishing in the moment that I won't have to see any reporters for a very long time." Trunks noticed the slight change in Pan's eyes at the mention of the trip into space.

"Kaien is going to be opening presents soon."

"Ah," Trunks commented, "I have a feeling Bulla's going to be announcing something too."

Pan smirked, the corner of her mouth itched with mischievousness, "I'm not going to say anything."

A lavender eyebrow arched up, "Oh?"

Pan locked her elbow into his, "Let's go. He will rip through them and we will miss everything if we don't get there soon."

Sure enough, Pan was right. Kaien destroyed the wrapping of his various gifts. "You have one more," Bulla said as she placed a small parcel in front of her eager son. He promptly tore open the wrapping and held up a t-shirt, a look of confusion etched on his face. "Read it," Bulla urged as most of the guests couldn't see what was written on the shirt.

"It says: I'm the big brother," Kaien read the white lettering on the navy blue shirt, "I don't get it, Mom. I'm the only kid."

ChiChi and Bulma were the first to realize what was going on and loudly screamed like an excited sixteen year old being given their first car.

"Is this what I think it is?" ChiChi had shoved everyone out of the way and had taken the shirt from her grandson and was holding it up for inspection.

"What do you mean?" Goten seemed as equally puzzled by this as his son was.

"Everyone!" Bulla began, "I would like to formally announce that we are expecting another baby!"

Laughter, rounds of applause, and many congratulations erupted from the congregation of Z warriors.

Goten sat down next to his son, fanning himself dramatically at the thought of another baby, as several of the older men thumped him on the back with various "Atta-boys," and "good jobs."

Pan stepped back and away from the celebration to give the grandparents their chance to harass the family about baby plans. She felt a strong hand on her shoulder as she was pulled back into strong arms. Trunks's breath was hot and husky across her check as he whispered into her ear. "I think I owe you a dinner. Do you want to sneak out with me while they're all busy?"

Pan sat her champagne glass on the nearest table, "Let's go."

-XOXOXO-

The two blossoming love birds walked with their arms linked down the city park, Trunks held Pan's heels in his free hand, swinging them as they went. Both were feeling slightly buzzed from alcoholic drinks they had partaken in at a local café pub and even drunker on the idea of love.

"I like that they decided to keep lights up all year long," Pan commented gesturing to the soft pink, blue, violet, and yellow lights that accented the fountain and were strung up in the trees.

"Yeah it is nice," Trunks agreed. The effect did give a nice romantic glow to the area. "Since the bars have all closed, what do you say we head back to my place, order a pizza, and have a few drinks?"

"Sounds good to me."

-XOXOXO-

The pizza lay out on the coffee table, mostly finished and accompanied by several empty bottles of liquor. Trunks poured Pan a shot and it to her before pulling her feet back into his lap. The movie was completely forgotten as they talked.

"Oooh, that feels good," Pan groaned as strong fingers pushed gently into the sole of her foot. Trunks could feel the bones underneath the skin splay out then roll back into place. He smirked wickedly as he ran a lone finger up the arch, which elicited a jerk from Pan. Using his other hand he grasped her ankle and proceeded to tickle the foot.

"Stop, stop," Pan erupted into giggles, "Why would you do that?"

Trunks tightened his grip on her, but this time his hands began to roam. His hands massaged the back of her calves as he pulled himself up into a kneeling position on the couch. Knowing that Pan was rather ticklish on the back of the knees, he grabbed onto her calves and pulled her up onto partially up onto his lap before he began his attack.

Her response was instantaneous as she wriggled beneath him in an effort to get away. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she desperately tried to suck air into her lungs between her laughter.

"Hahaha, stop, please," Trunks smiled to himself as Pan begged him to be released from his assault.

He pulled her up onto his lap, his arms encircling around her waist as he pulled her closely and inhaled her scent. He could feel her heart beating in his ear as her body slowly calmed down.

"Trunks?" Trunks looked up into ebony eyes, equally filled with lust. He arched his head up and brought his hand to rest in the tangles of her loose hair as he pulled her head down so that their lips would connect.

Slowly the kiss had started, and feeling the flick of Pan's tongue on his lower lip, Trunks parted his mouth and did not hold back. Each battled for dominance for the other, desperate to join, but never to depart.

Trunks brought his hand up further and with strong fingers, began to lift Pan's white dress up to her waist. He pulled her head down closer, deepening the kiss as his other hand began to explore more.

His left hand began to knead the flesh of her breast; he could feel hardened nipples through the thin fabric of her dress and lacy bra. Using his thumb, he began to roll her nipple, eliciting a moan from Pan.

They had parted, their breathing slightly hitched as Pan reached up and began to unbutton Trunk's shirt, each button coming loose with a small audible _snap_.

Trunks peeled off the opposing fabric and pulled Pan once more into a kiss, "I'm going to miss you."

She quivered beneath him as Trunks arched his hand around and cupped her bottom, "Then take me with you. Leave Goten behind."

He pulled her in for another kiss, this time adding a gentle bite to her bottom lip. Trunks shook his head, "It's a danger to you: you're too weak."

Once the word came out of his mouth Trunks immediately wished that he had a time machine to go back and change what he had just said. Pan froze in his arms and her eyes narrowed.

"_Weak_?" She whispered, the word dripped with venom.

"No, no," Trunks began, desperate to try to make amends, "That's not what I meant!"

Too late. Pan had already stood up and readjusted her dress back to its correct position.

She was picking up her shoes when Trunks grabbed her hand, "Pan, I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant."

Pan quickly pried her hand away from her. She never looked at Trunks but Pan could see from where she was standing that her eyes showed sadness and betrayal. "I'm going home," She whispered as she picked up her bag from the previous night and slammed the door on the way out.

Trunks felt her ki blast away as she took off in flight. He leaned back onto the couch, bringing his hands up to hold his head and pulled slightly at his lavender hair. He blew out a breath of air, "I've completely and utterly fucked that up." Trunks laid down on the couch and pulled the pillow up to his head that Pan had been using, her scent still strong. "Now I have to figure out how to fix this in twenty-four hours." Trunks groaned; the last thing he wanted to do was to go into space after pissing Pan off. He was going to have to come up with something big to make it up to her…

Thank you so much for the reviews. It really means a lot to me when you take the time. I'll try to update as soon as I can.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you everyone for the reviews - I greatly appreciate them! I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can. The ending of this one didn't go quite as how I wanted it but I really have to focus on a Chem test and I wanted to get at least something up for now.**

**As always, I don't own anything and this is merely a work of fanfiction.**

The Collector

Chapter Eight

'_I am so sorry about what I said last night. Please give me a call_,' Pan reread the text that Trunks had sent her before slamming her phone down against the counter before she reassumed her angry stirring of the brownie batter.

Kaien entered the kitchen, dirt spackled across his face from playing outside in the yard. "Ooh, brownies!" His eyes lit up as he reached a grubby finger forward to spoon out a taste of batter from the bowl.

"No, not this kind!" His aunt hastily shied his hand away from the red bowl. Seeing her nephew's dejected look, Pan quickly added, "I made a batch for you. This one is a special one for your daddy since he's going away. But I'll tell you what: if you take out the trash for Aunt Pan and wash your hands and face, I'll cut you out a slice before dinner."

Happy at the prospect of doing "big boy work" and the impeding enjoyment of his aunt's infamous brownies, Kaien jumped off the stool and went to the trash can, his eyes on the already baked pan of brownies. He stepped on the pedal to make the lid rise but stopped when he saw an assortment of scattered boxes in the trash. He grabbed one of the empty white containers and studied the package with a photo of a coca bean on it. "What's this?" He held it up high for his aunt to see, "Says chocolate lax..lax…"

His aunt giggled, "It says 'laxatives.' Nothing to worry about, it's a really special kind of chocolate that I'm using for your daddy's brownies. Now hurry up, because I have a secret mission for you later."

"Okay!" Kaien pulled the bag out of the trash and tied the strings into a bow before departing.

Pan went back to stirring the batter. The consistency looked right and with the added sleeping roots and the ten pounds of laxatives, Pan could only hope that her plan would work to take down a Saiyan, one's whose race was never prone to any kind of illness.

Later that night the two siblings sat in the living room with Kaien sprawled out on the floor enjoying a movie. Pan had cooked them dinner, promising Bulla that she would take care of her two boys while she was gone. Goten sat cross-legged in his chair, the pan of brownies spread across his lap with a fork in one hand.

"This is really good, Panny," Goten stuffed a large bite into his mouth, showing chocolate covered teeth.

"Mmmhmm." When it came to cooking Pan prided herself in having inherited most of her cooking skill from her mother. Now began the watch to see if her plan would work.

An hour later, Pan was rewarded with her brother's loud snoring. Kaien quickly jumped up from his pillow mound on the floor. "Is it time to begin 'Operation: Daddy's not going to space 'cause Mommy said so?'"

Pan giggled, "It sure is!"

Throwing her blanket off of her lap, Pan crossed the room and removed the brownie pan from her brother's lap. He was in a dead sleep, snoring loudly each time they rolled him. Pan fished Goten's cell phone out of his cargo pocket and handed it to Kaien.

"Now remember: we cannot let Daddy have his cell phone," Pan hoisted her brother out of the chair, grunting not because he was heavy but his height made it impossible for her to carry him to his bed without having to levitate a few feet off the ground.

Unceremoniously, she dumped him on the bed; so far her plan seemed to be working. Pan turned back to her nephew, "Let me see the phone for a moment."

Quickly, she sent a text to Trunks to inform him that "he" was sleeping on the ship and that he would see him there in the morning.

Pan handed the phone back to Kaien, "Now, under no circumstances tomorrow are you to let your dad have the phone."

Kaien smiled and promised that he wouldn't. Pan laughed and kissed her nephew's head, "Now let's go to sleep. I'm going to get up early but I'll leave breakfast out for you. Your mom will return around ten."

Pan tucked her nephew in and attempted sleep, but found it elusive. Her mind was racing with the "what ifs" but eventually she did fall asleep to be awoken two hours before dawn. Pan peeked in at Goten, still fast asleep before checking her bag and insuring that everything was there that she thought she might leave. With one last look at her brother's house, she took off to the sky towards Capsule Corp. Once close enough, she lowered her ki and snuck the rest of the way into the compound and onto the ship.

-XOXOXOX-

Goten rolled over and sleepily rubbed his eyes as he looked at the red digits from the alarm clock: 9:35 AM blared back at him. "Shit!" Goten shot out of bed and quickly began to scurry about the room, shoving various items in a bag, locating a pair of clean pants and tripping over the legs as he attempted to get them on over the pair of pants he was already wearing.

But all of a sudden he stopped when a shooting pain reached the lower region of his stomach, causing him to clench his sides as gas bubbles rumbled inside of his belly. Having to waddle from wearing two pairs of pants, Goten made it quick dash into his master bedroom before sitting down on the toilet. He made it just in time before he felt the contents of his stomach empty and doubled over in pain from the cramps.

Something was wrong. Goten didn't get sick. In fact, he never even remembered having a cold but something was going on. First thing was first though: he had to get a hold of Trunks to let him know of the situation. Goten fished into his pocket where he kept his phone, thinking that it would still be in his pocket since he had fallen asleep with yesterday's clothes on. But the phone wasn't there, or in any of his pockets.

"Kaien!" Goten called out, knowing that if he didn't have it, his son would. "KAI!"

Goten could hear the pitter-patter noise of his son running up the stairs and into his bedroom. His son poked his head through the door, his dark black sticking up in every direction.

"What, Dad?"

"Do you have Daddy's phone?" Goten asked, clenching his sides as another wave of cramps hit him.

"Mmmmhmmm," Kaien held up the phone, the orange case shining brightly in the early morning light through the window.

"Let Daddy have it."

"Nope!" Kaien turned the screen to face him and Goten heard the chime of a game begin.

"Kai, I need the phone."

"Nope."

"Kaien," Goten's voice became stern, "Give me the phone."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"Aunt Pan said you can't have it because it's Operation: Daddy can't go to space because Mommy says so."

"What? Kaien, this is serious, give me the phone."

Kaien shook his head and chimed, "Aunt Panny made you special brownies so you wouldn't go to space. My job is to make sure you don't get the phone."

Goten groaned, "What did Aunt Pan do?"

"She gave you lax…lax-iv…laxatives!" Kaien was happy that he remembered what the foreign sounding word was.

"Kaien, give me the phone!"

"No way, dad!" And in an instant Kaien stuck out his tongue in orneriness and slammed the door on his dad. Goten made to stand up to go after his disobedient son but quickly stopped when his body seized with a cramp and he had to return to his porcelain throne.

-XOXOX-

Trunks stared at the screen on his phone before shoving it back into his pocket; there was still no reply from Pan, just a message from Goten. He was hoping to see her before he took off into space, but it seemed that even now, she did not want to see him. He glanced over at Goku who was consoling a crying ChiChi.

Trunks felt his father approach him and turned to face him. Although he was slightly taller than his dad, his father still held an imposing presence over him.

"Remember," his father began, "That you are a Saiyan prince. This mission will require you to act as one." Trunks nodded in understanding as his father passed him what he knew as the Royal Crest, the weight of the emblem felt heavy in his palms.

"Now," Vegeta continued, "Even though your mother has already checked out the ship, you better make sure everything is secure before you take off. Kakarot is already on the ship doing who knows what to the fridge."

He was right; Goku had disappeared inside to put away the food that ChiChi had prepared. Meanwhile, ChiChi was being comforted by Bulma.

Hoisting his bag on his shoulder, Trunks walked inside the ship and entered the foyer before walking into the living area and tossing his bag onto the blue couch. He could hear Goku rummaging around in the kitchen.

"Trunks, are you in here?" Trunks's heart began to flutter at the sound of Pan's voice.

"I'm here! Hold on I'll come see you," He made to turn but instantly fell back onto the couch as he lost his balance when the spaceship began to rumble.

"What's going on?" Goku ran into the room from the adjacent kitchen, a loaf of bread in his hands.

"I don't know but something's wrong." Trunks heard the door hiss to a close and his mother yelling outside of the ship. His ears popped as they began to gain altitude. Trunks regained his equilibrium and made his way to the cockpit.

His mouth dropped open, he wasn't expecting this but Pan was there, manning the ship, her fingers flying over the keys as she steered them higher and higher.

"Pan! What are you doing?" Goku spoke behind Trunks, the loaf of bread suddenly gone.

"I suggest you sit down, we're about to enter the troposphere." Goku sat down; buckling himself in, clearly not seeing the situation they were in.

"Pan," Trunks began, his voice cool, "Why are you here?" His ears kept popping and seeing that he would not get an answer from her till they reached stable gravity, he sat down and retained silence till they leveled out past the thermosphere.

Pan eased up on the controls and unbuckled herself, "Sorry about the rough ride, but we're clear until we reach the docking station."

Trunks shot up angrily from his chair, "Pan, give me the master key. I'm taking you back to Earth."

Pan's checks flushed a sign that she was angry. "Why is that, Trunks, why do you _have_ to take me back?"

"It was decided that Goten was to come with us. This mission is too dangerous and we need you to stay on Earth."

"Oh, because _I'm weak_ so I need to stay on Earth?" She was sitting on her knees from the commander's chair, her fingers turning white as she squeezed the cushion as she leaned partially over the headrest to yell at Trunks.

Trunks flushed, the tips of his ears showing embarrassment, "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Pan, why are you here?" Her father asked as he unbuckled himself from his chair. Glancing between the two younger adults, he could feel some unspoken tension between the two.

"I'm replacing Goten, he needs to stay with his family and I wanted to come," She gave a sideways glance to her father.

Despite being one of the strongest warriors on Earth, Goku felt a little apprehension about the look his daughter was giving him, "Well, for what it's worth," Goku put his hand behind his head, "I think it's a great idea you're coming along. I know I'm not much of a cook, I don't know about Trunks…"

"DAD, I'm not here to cook food for you!"

Goku held his hands in the air in a form of surrender, "I…uh…didn't mean it that way…" One hand moved to scratch the back of his head as he gave a nervous chuckle.

"Pan," Trunks began, his voice low, "Let me have the key. I don't feel that you would be safe going with us."

"If you want the key so much," Pan pushed her chest forward, showing cleavage to Trunks. Trunks could faintly catch the gleam of silver hidden between her breasts, "You are more than welcome to search for it."

Trunks gulped. If Goku had not been there, he would of gladly of stuck his hand down her shirt, taken the master key, and returned Pan to Earth where she would be safe and under the protection of his father and her brother. But for now...

"Fine, I guess I'm okay with it," Trunks sighed and sat down at the command center. "Just buckle in you two; we will reach the docking station soon."

Goku buckled himself into his chair, "So how did you convince Goten to change spots with you?"

"I didn't," Pan smiled at her father, "I just persuaded him with food." Satisfied with the turn of events, Pan sat down in one of the chairs and buckled the harness over her. Things so far seemed to be going her way.

-XOXOX-

Pan gasped in awe once they had exited their ship after it docked at the IPF. All sorts of alien races were employed amongst the Intergalaxian Police Force. A large alien approached the group, his large belly swaying back and forth. It surprised the three travelers that someone the size of a small building could be held on the spaceship. Trunks was reminded of Jabba the Hutt from the old Star Wars films that he and Goten spent many Saturdays watching. However, this alien was much slimmer, but taller than one would of thought.

The alien stopped in front of them, his folds of skin swaying despite wearing a special suit. He opened his mouth, a series of ticks emitted and from the tone, they were friendly.

"His name is Officer Budi, he's a Huvarian from the planet Hvut," Pan commentated before making the same ticking noise as she introduced them to Budi. "We're to follow him."

The three of them followed Budi, Pan often lagged behind as she kept stopping to look at random things in the hallways or to talk to a few of the other IPF officers in their native tongues. Most of the other officers they crossed were very excited to find a nonnative person speak their language, and fluently nonetheless!

Budi opened the doors to the Command Room. It was a technological dream for Trunks. Thousands of monitors surrounded the walls, each projecting a different image or schematic. Most employees that were operating the desks could materialize screens in from of them to drag files into monitors.

"It's good to see you again!" Khalen greeted the trio with a deep bow. His brown eyes sparkled when they fell on Pan, "Miss," He clasped her hands into his, placing a light kiss on the tops, "How wonderful it is too see you here. I'm glad they changed their minds about you going."

"We didn't change our minds," Trunks interjected as he drew himself up to his full height and took a step behind Pan, "She forced us to take her."

Pan smiled at Khalen, "This place is amazing! The collection of artifacts here is huge. I've never seen so many in one place. Sometimes we get a few random bits that show up on meteors on Earth or from very ancient past visitors, but never anything like what you have here."

Khalen laughed, "Then, while Eloiny is talking technical aspect to Prince Trunks, I would be more than happy to give you a tour."

"Really? Oh, I would love that."

"Um," Goku began, "If it's not too much of a bother I'd like to know where your cafeteria is."

"I have heard that Saiyans have insatiable appetites," In response to the comment Goku's stomach growled loudly, "Jushin." A blue skinned man with large, pointed webbed ears, stood up from his chair.

"Yes, sir." Jushin saluted.

"Please show, Mister Son to the café, make sure he is accommodated."

"Yes, sir." Jushin turned to Goku and bowed, "If you follow me, I will be more than happy to show you to the café."

"Great, I'm starving!" Goku excitedly followed the man.

Eloiny cleared her throat, "Prince Trunks," she handed him the modified Dragon Ball radar, "While Khalen is escorting Miss Pan on a tour, I believe we should go over a few important items."

"Uh," Trunks turned to find that Pan had already disappeared with Khalen, her voice carried down the hall as she excitedly talked to the man. Giving a dejected sigh, he returned back to Eloiny, "Might as well. Have you guys collected any more information on Amuer?"

"Yes we have," Eloiny gestured towards a room to their left. "If you follow me, we shall discuss this in the lab."

Four hours later, Trunks found himself standing in front of spaceship with an antsy Goku whom was still stuffing food into his mouth. He had been waiting for the past thirty minutes for Pan to return from her "tour" of the spaceship. Trunks was more than ready to leave and to have Pan by his side where he knew she was safe and not with some other man that clearly felt every need to openly flirt with her.

Trunks's fist clenched when he saw the two approaching. Both were in a deep conversation. Pan smiled up at Trunks when she saw him and held out a bag for him to take.

"What's this?" Trunks asked as he glanced inside of the bag to see several books.

"Research," Pan replied. She turned her attention back to Khalen and stuck her hand out for a handshake. "Thank you so much for your time Khalen."

Khalen shook her hand, "It was my pleasure. When this is all over, might I say we could certainly use you as a translator. We are always looking for adept persons instead of relying on our machines to translate for us."

"I will consider it," Pan said turning to leave but was stopped when Khalen grabbed her hand.

"Oh, one more thing," Khalen removed a silver chained bracelet with a blue gem from his pocket and clasped it onto Pan's wrist. "If you are in need of assistance, push the gem in and it will send your coordinates to us."

"Thank you," Pan replied as she examined the bracelet.

Trunks stepped forward and placed his hand on Pan's shoulder. "Thank you, Khalen, but we really need to be going."

"Of course," Khalen bowed to the trio as they entered their ship after they had made their goodbyes to a few of the officers they had just met.

As soon as they took off Trunks turned on the Dragon Ball radar, the faint arrow began to blink.

"Where to?" Goku asked, still stuffing food in his mouth that he had received from the IPF café.

"Dad, don't talk with your mouth full," Pan chided.

"Looks like a planet known as Lorv," Trunks commented after he entered the coordinates into the ship's positioning system.

"How long till we get there?" Pan asked as she unfastened her harness once the gravity stabilized from their takeoff.

Trunks looked at the console, "A few days if everything goes okay."

Pan picked up one of the books from the bag that she had taken from Khalen, "I'm heading up the observatory to read, tell me if you need anything."

Trunks heaved a heavy sigh after he heard the door shut; this was going to be a long journey.


	9. Chapter 9

The Collector

Chapter Nine

Goten glared daggers at his wife from his current fetal position on the bed as she entered their bedroom, a smug smile on her face.

"I hate you," Goten hissed. "I don't know what you two did, but I know you're behind it."

Bulla gave a "humph" noise in her throat much like her father did and crossed her arms. "It could have been worse. I could of let Pan do something really awful to you." Bulla took a bottle of Loperamide from her purse and uncapped it. "Here, drink this." She extended it to Goten who looked at it warily. "It's not going to make you any worse. Besides we accomplished our goal." Goten took it and downed it quickly.

"I guess Pan is in space?" Goten asked as he wiped the chalky substance from his lips. He was instantly feeling better as his body metabolized the medicine quickly – thank goodness for Saiyan genes, although they did prove to be a curse last night.

"Yeah, they left a long time ago," Bulla said glancing at her watch and noticing that it was almost noon. "They will be arriving at the IPF in a few hours."

Goten returned the same guttural noise, one that was used in acknowledgement. He reached out with his large hands to grasp his wife's stomach, "So we really have another baby in there?"

Bulla smiled and nodded and held up two fingers, "There might be two in there."

Goten chocked, "Uh…t-t-two?"

"Yes, but the first ultrasound was inconclusive. We have another appointment in two weeks to see and it will be another two months before we find out the gender."

"Two…two more babies…"Goten stammered, "I uh, don't know."

Kaien, who had been listening outside of the door, quickly ran in and jumped on the bed, "All right! I want two little brothers!"

Bulla laughed, "No way! If anything I want a girl. You two boys are hard enough to care for as it is."

"But Mommy!" Kaien whined as he bounced around his dad who promptly grabbed him and held him down for an assult of tickles.

"I want a girl," Bulla stated. "Just think what it would be like with two girls."

Goten and Kaien both made a face at the news. "But girls are icky," Kaien groaned.

"Yeah," Goten chimed in, "And what if they're like Aunt Pan and bully the older brother?"

Bulla playfully whacked her husband with her hand, "Oh you two! That's enough of that. We will get what we get and be happy. If I don't get a girl, we're going to keep trying."

"But I want another boy if this is a girl," Goten said.

"Nope, we're done if I get my girl."

"But Bulla…"

"Nope."

"Mom, I want a brother!" Kaien declared before he resumed his attack on his father.

Bulla threw her hands up in the air in mock defeat before exiting the room to leave her two "boys" to their playtime.

-XOXOX-

Trunks set the ship into autopilot mode before standing up to stretch, his joints popping from the long sitting position. Goku had already retired for the night and had gone to sleep in one of the beds that were their shared rooms.

Trunks entered what was their living area on the spaceship and noticed Pan had fallen asleep on the couch. She had not wanted to share a room with the two men and had opted to sleep in the living room. The blanket hung from her waist; she had obviously had gotten her feet tangled in it and she had attempted to kick the offending fabric off of herself. A book lay open across her chest; Trunks felt an instant wave of nostalgia. Pan had often flown home during his finals week of college every semester and studied at Capsule Corp into the early hours of the morning before flying back to class. Trunks would often come home from working late and find her passed out in her books, a pencil in hand, and notes spread across the countertop. She claimed that she studied better at Capsule Corp because if she went home, her mother would hover over her the whole time, but if she stayed in her dorm, she felt lonely and distracted. Her second home was her retreat.

Carefully, Trunks removed the book from her lap. He didn't recognize the language, it had to of been one of the alien languages his father had taught Pan, but the large tree that was sprawled across one of the pages looked familiar. He remembered seeing something like it in another book his mother had.

Making a mental note to ask Pan about it later, Trunks set the book down on the coffee table. As gently as he could, Trunks untangled the blanket from Pan's legs and readjusted the covers for her.

As Trunks was tucking the cover around Pan, she instantly awoke, clearly startled by the action.

"I'm sorry," Trunks muttered.

Pan calmed down once she had recognized that it was Trunks.

"Mmm," Pan snuggled into the warmth when she realized that she had been cold, "Thank you."

Trunks reached out a timid hand and smoothed the few fly-away hairs from Pan's face. "Pan?"

"Mmmhmm?"

"I'm sorry for being upset with you and for what I said. I don't think you're weak." Pan opened her eyes to look at Trunks's worried blue ones. "I hate to admit this but I'm scared for you to be with us. You weren't around for when Buu first emerged and the events that followed. We lost so many people, I saw many people grieve, and at a young age it was hard for me to handle. I don't like it that this Amuer is after you, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to protect you." Trunks didn't realize that he had placed one of his hands behind Pan's head and was stroking her cheek with the other.

"I know, Trunk," Pan whispered, her face inches from his. "I know you will. But I have to be here. Just trust me. There's something I have to do but I don't know what yet. I just need you.."

"I trust you," Trunks finished. "But I will protect you no matter what."

Pan nodded and brought her lips up to meet Trunks's. Short and sweet the kiss was, one that would start a whirlwind of emotions between the two. Trunks pulled away and retucked the blankets around Pan. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Trunks." Pan smiled at him as she snuggled back down into the couch.

Goku, whom had gotten up for a midnight snack and had discovered the two budding lovebirds, realized he was about to be caught and quickly hurried back to his and Trunks's room before Trunks could make it around the corner of the hall.

Trunks entered his shared room, Goku snored away loudly and his blankets were also tossed to the floor. "_Like father, like daughter_," Trunks thought to himself as he toed off his shoes and took off his shirt before turning in for the night. Trunks just hoped that he could be true to his word and keep Pan protected.

**I'm sorry that this chapter is short but I wanted to post this as soon as it came to me and because of the impending work I'm facing, I decided to publish it. ** **Thank you so much for the reviews, they keep me going. I'm going to give the readers the option to decide on if Bulla and Goten will have twins and what the genders should be. I'll try to write a parallel chapter as to what is happening on Earth and on the Trio's adventure at the same time.**


End file.
